Mpumalanga farm uses floating solar project for energy security

Although loadshedding and significant power outages have not been a feature of

South African life for a while, rapidly increasing electricity tariffs that far outstrip

inflation and worries about future energy security are still causing sleepless nights

for farmers.

However, for a family-owned farm about three kilometres from Malelane, the future is clearer, thanks to their decision to keep production on track and reduce escalating energy costs, a move that has resulted in a sizable solar-powered solution.

What makes the solar plant at Radley Landgoed unique is that 80% of the solar panels – a massive 3,350 square metres – are located on the surface of one of the estate’s largest irrigation dams. This makes the project Mpumalanga Province’s most significant agricultural power project and the only ‘water-borne’ solar plant in the region and possibly in South Africa.

Recently switched on, power reaches vital parts of the farming operation through a seven-kilometre network of custom-built pylons.