A water-based solar power plant has been established on a family-owned farm near Malelane, Mpumalanga, as reportedly the first of its size in the region.

The solar plant, located on Radley Landgoed, spans 3 350 square metres with 80% of its panels floating on an irrigation dam’s surface. This design conserves land for agricultural purposes and helps maintain the dam’s irrigation capacity, according to Standard Bank’s Business and Commercial Banking (BCB) division, which financed the project. The location also offers advantages such as easy maintenance and cooling of the panels by the water.

The recently activated plant was completed within one year and provides power to the farm through a 7 km network of custom-built pylons. It can generate up to 1,8 GWh of power annually. This output is sufficient to meet the energy needs of the entire estate including farm homesteads, supporting buildings and staff quarters, potentially allowing the farm to operate off-grid when necessary, Standard Bank pointed out. The estate covers 1 900 hectares including citrus and mango orchards as well as sugar cane fields and its Nguni cattle stud.

“Load shedding created uncertainty and disrupted our farming activities, particularly in terms of irrigation and equipment operation,” said Renald Radley, one of the farm’s managers. “Switching to solar has provided a more reliable power source and reduced our operating costs.”