OWN CORRESPONDENT, London | Friday 10.30am.
OIL giant Shell will next week launch the world’s first large scale commercial solar electrification project which will eventually bring power to 50000 homes in the Eastern Cape.
President Nelson Mandela will attend the inauguration of the scheme in the Bipa area on February 24, pulling the switch on the first 10 home units, the company said.
Willem-Jan van Wijk, a director of Shell International Renewables Ltd and Head of Shell Solar, said on Thursday the project — a joint venture with Eskom — will be a commercially viable venture financed directly from customer payments.
“We plan to install 6000 home systems within six months and to reach 50000 homes within the next three years,” he said.
Under the scheme, each household will be furnished with its own R3000 solar panel and battery which will supply enough power to satisfy most domestic needs.
“It will give more than enough light and can power a television receiver for an evening and a radio throughout the day,” said van Wijk.
Consumers will pay around R60 a month for the service by buying a magnetic card at locally owned and operated outlets. Currently, they spend almost that amount on candles and paraffin, Van Wijk said.
Shell estimates that the project could provide around 2,5 megawatts of power to regions currently outside the reach of the national power grid.
Shell Solar is a division of Shell International Renewables, launched as a new core business of Shell International in October 1997.