South African independent power producer BioTherm Energy (Pty) Ltd has announced its plans for a commercial solar-energy plant for the Soutpansberg region.

The Alldays plant, located about 70km west of Musina on Gotha Farm, will be able to generate up to 75Mw of electricity, enabling it to supply approximately 15 000 homes with renewable sun energy. 

The proposed plant is currently in its scoping phase, with the draft environmental impact assessment (EIA) report having to be completed. Members of the public will be able to comment on this report until 15 January 2013.

According to the EIA, the Alldays plant envisions the use of either photovoltaic (PV) or concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) panels to convert sunlight directly into electricity. BioTherm says the climate of the area favours photovoltaic technology.

This electricity generated will be diverted into the national Eskom grid. The stored electricity at the plant will be diverted via a proposed on-site substation that will connect to the Soutpan/Venetia power line via a loop-in-loop-out system.  The other alternative, according to the EIA report, would be to construct a 132Kv connection line of up to 2km parallel to link with the substation.

BioTherm proposed the solar plant to tie in with Eskom and the national government’s 10-year strategy to produce renewable energy by means of biomass, wind, solar and small-scale hydro. “Eskom, as an energy utility, has been identified as the world’s second-largest producer of carbon emissions,” the report states.

But even though it would at first glance seem that the solar plant holds many benefits, concerns have been raised about the proposed property where the plant will be constructed.

The plant will have a planned foot print of about 175Ha, which means that some vegetation clearing will take place to enable the construction of the PV or CPV panels that can stretch to heights of up to 22 meters. 

The construction of connection lines will also have an impact on bird species in the area. Research concludes in the report, however, that with the proper mitigation measures, the negative impact can be countered.

For more information on the solar plant, interested parties can log onto BioTherm’s independent environmental assessment practitioner, Savannah Environmental (Pty) Ltd’s website and download all the reports. Their website can be found at www.savannahsa.com