Extrupet, said to be one of the largest and most advanced recyclers of plastics on the African continent, has commenced the operation of its brand new 1,3 MW solar power plant, built in collaboration with Solarise Africa and NEC XON. The company recycles more than four million PET bottles every day at its Wadeville facility.

“Climate change is the greatest existential threat ever faced by humanity. It is the duty of every organisation to change the way it does business and adopt eco-friendly practices to help reduce climate change,” said Vijay Naidu, the joint managing director at Extrupet.

“Being one of the pioneering recycling companies in Africa, everything we do is dedicated towards building a greener tomorrow. We are always looking at new ways to reduce energy expenditure and decrease our impact on the environment, and a switch to solar energy was the next logical step towards a sustainable future,” he continued.

The 1,3 MW solar plant has an annual generation capacity of 2 GWh and will reduce the company’s carbon emissions by 1800 t per year, which is equal to the carbon sequestered by just under 31 000 tree seedlings grown for ten years.

“We started the journey with Solarise Africa and NEC XON two years ago and today we are proud to be one of the first companies in the recycling industry to adopt solar power. This is a significant investment, and we challenge other industries to do the same. We look forward to a very long and fruitful relationship with Solarise Africa and NEC XON,” Naidu said.

Solarise Africa provided the full-service commercial solution to finance the project. “In addition to being one of the most innovative recyclers on the African continent, Extrupet wanted to take its commitment to sustainable development even further by utilising solar power,” said Sakkie van Wijk, the chief commercial officer at Solarise Africa.

“Not only is solar energy better for the environment, but it will also reduce electricity costs by about 30% from the first month with savings of around R130-million to R140-million over the course of the lifecycle of the solar plant.”

“At Solarise Africa, we believe in collaboration and working with our partners to help Africa thrive. In spite of the global pandemic and all the related challenges, the team managed to deliver on time. We are proud to partner with Extrupet and NEC XON to help tackle climate change,” van Wijk concluded.

The engineering, procurement and construction was managed by NEC XON, the combination of XON, a systems integrator providing custom ICT and security services and solutions in Southern Africa, and NEC Africa, the African business of global technology giant NEC Corporation. “The successful delivery of this solar plant is a very proud moment for us,” said Herman Viljoen, Head of Alternative Energy Pre-Sale at NEC XON.

“This project was particularly interesting because of the high voltage system and transformer integration. This 1,3 MW solar installation will produce an average 2 GWh of energy every year, and not only will it provide energy at a reduced cost, but it will also ensure that Extrupet has a consistent and reliable power supply, even when the national grid is under severe strain.”

Lungani Zwane, PETCO’s recycling programme officer, also attended the inauguration. “We are excited and encouraged by the example that has been set by Extrupet to decrease their carbon footprint. We encourage our members to find ways of integrating renewable energy into our industry and wholeheartedly support any efforts that help stave off climate change”.

Cheri Scholtz, PETCO’s CEO also congratulated Extrupet on this project. “Not only will it help to alleviate the lost production time from load shedding, it will also offset the use of carbon-based electricity and improve the current carbon footprint of this important bottle-to-bottle plant. The investment in renewable power by Extrupet deserves recognition and we wish the project every success”, she said.

Solarise Africa is a pan-African energy leasing company. Through their smart financing solutions, they unlock possibilities and empower their partners to thrive and actively drive Africa’s progress. Solarise Africa works with a selected group of renewable energy solution companies, and they collaborate very closely with their partners to provide a range of tailor-made financial solutions for their customers. They offer innovative leasing solutions that require minimal capital expenditure with short payback periods that help companies save money.

For more information, please visit www.solariseafrica.com

NEC XON is the combination of XON, a Systems Integrator providing custom ICT and security services and solutions in Southern Africa since 1996, and NEC Africa, the African business of the global technology giant NEC Corporation. NEC Corporation implemented its first communication solution in Africa in 1963 and established NEC Africa in 2011 to grow its business ICT and public safety. Kapela Capital (Pty) Ltd, XON’s B-BBEE partner since 2010, continues as NEC XON’s B-BBEE partner in South Africa, with Israel Skosana as chairman of the board of directors of NEC XON. NEC generates global revenues in excess of $30 billion by orchestrating a brighter world for public entities, enterprises, telecoms carriers, and providing system platforms for businesses. The combined NEC Africa and XON (NEC XON) operations seek to explore the opportunities more fully for safe city, energy, cyber security, telecommunication solutions, retail, managed services, cyber defence services and cloud (both public and private), among others in sub-Sahara Africa. NEC XON maintains its head offices in Gauteng, South Africa with a footprint that covers all nine provinces in South Africa and 16 countries in sub-Sahara Africa.

Contact Mark Harris, NEC XON, Tel 011 237-4500, mark@nec.xon.co.za