Independent power producer Avelar Energy South Africa has commissioned a 166 kWp rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant at the Germiston headquarters of building and infrastructure products supplier Dawn.

The installation is the bigger Swiss group’s first direct investment into Africa, where it aims to deploy 500 MW of solar capacity between now and 2020. Avelar Energy is domiciled in Zurich and forms part of the larger Renova Group, of Russia, and led by Viktor Vekselberg.

Dawn, which embarked on an aggressive energy efficiency drive after establishing an energy baseline in 2011, has facilitated the construction of R3-million facility by concluding a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Avelar.

Dawn infrastructure division CEO Gerhard Kotzee reports that the group is considering similar PPAs with Avelar at three other sites, including at some of its manufacturing sites, and is likely to conclude offtake agreements soon.

The JSE-listed company has already lowered its overall electricity consumption from 3.4-million kilowatt-hours in 2011 to 2.1-million kilowatt-hours currently and views the purchase of renewable power from Avelar as a way of mitigating risks associated with rising Eskom and municipal tariffs. Kotzee says it will also help it mitigate the risks related to the possible introduction of a carbon tax in South Africa.

Avelar Energy South Africa’s Werner Fuls tells Engineering News Online that the company is prioritising private-sector opportunities of between 1 MW and 10 MW across industry and mining sites in South Africa and the rest of the continent.

However, the company will also pursue public-sector competitive bidding or feed-in tariff opportunities. “[But] at this stage, we have decided to make private PPAs our primary focus,” Fuls says.

Avelar Energy business development director Marcus Schrauf adds that the group views Africa as a key growth territory and is planning to have around half of its capacity installed on the continent by 2020. Over the period it plans to install 1 000 MW globally.

“This project is not a big installation, but we think this is a really great step forward . . . this is unlocking the potential for a massive grid-parity market in South Africa and in the rest of Africa,” Schrauf says.