Most of South Africa suffers from endless blackouts, but a remote, all-white farming town in the country’s sun-drenched center is on the verge of producing enough electricity to support itself.
At the end of a gravel road outside the African city of Orania, a diamond-mesh gate opens onto hundreds of photovoltaic panels mounted in rows.
In energy-poor South Africa, the small settlement of 2,500 people is the only town nationwide close to achieving energy self-sufficiency and breaking free from the failing national grid.
“The solar park is a pretty big turning point for us. It brings sustainable energy to the city,” said Gawie Snyman, 43, who leads the community.
“Our big dream is to become an energy exporter.”
Africa’s most developed economy has been plagued in recent years by an epileptic power supply that many attribute to state-owned energy giant Eskom’s aging coal-fired power plants.
After weeks of some of the worst power outages in years, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced energy reforms on Monday, urging South Africans to “participate in a massive rollout of rooftop solar power” and sell surplus to the grid.
Orania, a city about 620 kilometers (380 miles) southwest of Johannesburg, was already on track to become fully energy independent in just a few years.
– Solar Independence –
Built on privately purchased land along the Orange River in the last days of apartheid, Orania manages its affairs independently of the central government.
It was founded to preserve the ‘culture’ of the Africans – descendants of the Dutch and Franco-Huguenot Protestant settlers who came to South Africa in the 17th century.
City spokesman Joost Strydom, 28, said the Karoo city is now aiming to make the most of the year-round sunshine to enjoy “complete electricity independence”.
With funding from the community and private investors, Orania began building its R10.5 million ($620,000) solar farm in June last year.
Just 12 months later, the city was generating 841 KW of electricity per hour — almost enough to power half the city and surrounding farms that grow corn, wheat and nuts, local authorities say.
“It was the basic idea of self-sufficiency that made us do it,” says Francois Joubert, the engineer who designed the so-called “Orasol” system.
Standing next to a row of solar panels, the 69-year-old, wearing a gray flat cap, said Eskom had “failed miserably” to provide the city with the energy it needed.
“You can’t rely on anyone to provide you with the basics of living here in the Karoo,” he said.
“We had to do this ourselves, we had to work it out … And it works for us.”
– Thirsty Pecans –
A few kilometers from the solar array, at farm De Groot Boord, Joubert’s wife Annatjie watched as a mechanical tree shaker threw pecans onto a red net during the early morning harvest.
The 66-year-old former IT specialist-turned-farmer said a stable power supply is crucial for her orchard to thrive.
When Eskom rations electricity to prevent grid collapse, its trees get thirsty because it can’t pump water from the river, she explained.
But “it’s important to complete your watering cycles, especially with pecans because they use a lot of water,” she said.
The new solar array would allow her to do just that, she added.
As the world grapples with a food crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, her husband said countries could hardly afford any more challenges to domestic food production.
“We need to produce as much of our own food as we can, and that’s why we need water…we need electricity,” Joubert said.
The city is proud to do its part by generating clean energy, the engineer said.
“We are very pleased that we can support the green idea,” he said.
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