First commercial floating solar farm in Africa

From the ongoing issues at Eskom to the chemicals being sprayed and the high energy needs of farms, the agricultural sector is looking to become more financially and environmentally sustainable through green energy solutions like the first commercial floating solar farm in Africa.

On 1 March 2019, media personnel as well as individuals from trade and industry joined together at Marlenique farm to hear from Minister of Economic Opportunities Beverley Schafer, CEO of New South Energy (NSE) David Masureik, and Financial Director of Boplaas 1743 Carl van der Merwe.

NSE recently installed a state of the art microgrid solution at Marlenique, a farm located just outside Franschoek on the famous R45 (Drakenstein Municipality). The farm produces export quality fruit as well as runs an award-winning wedding and function venue.

Due to rising energy prices and a high energy demand from its cold storage, irrigation and venue facilities, a microgrid system provided the best long-term solution for the farm. This decision was also made from taking in to consideration the input costs, power reliability and sustainability as key contributing factors towards the success of the business.
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