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Off-grid power solution for residential estate

Coral Beach Estate, an upmarket residential estate based in East London, has been struggling with load shedding and power outages due to South Africa's energy crisis, as well as the vandalism of its power infrastructure. Some outages have lasted over eight hours, causing major disruptions to the residents' lives.

IMPOWER has responded to this crisis by developing an off-grid power solution through a bespoke 20-year ‘Power Purchase Agreement’ model, which allows the homeowners association to pay for the power on a pay-as-you-use basis with zero upfront costs. The solution has been developed, engineered, and is currently under construction by IMPOWER.

The solar solution will have a capacity of 388 KWh, while the battery energy storage solution (BESS) will have a capacity of 1,458 MWh. The energy system includes a unique axis tracker system allowing the solar panels to follow the sun's daily arc, maximising yield per square meter of land used.

This solution will provide power independence for Coral Beach Estate, effectively eradicating load shedding. The cost of the solar and battery power will match that of Eskom in the first year; however, its annual escalation rate will be well below the NERSA increases. Jay Naidoo, CEO of IMPOWER had this to say about the project, “We believe that this is the perfect solution to the energy crisis faced by many, as it addresses all the typically insurmountable problems, namely, high project capex/investment costs, development and engineering risks/complexities, power unavailability, and the high-ever increasing cost of energy.”

Construction of the project began in the first week of January 2023 and is expected to be completed and commissioned by the end of June 2023. This means that residents of Coral Beach Estate will soon enjoy power independence via a renewable energy source. Charles Pittaway Snr, the Chairman of the Coral Beach Homeowners Association had this to say, “We are delighted to know that our estate will soon be load shedding free, our residents will soon be enjoying the benefits of solar and battery power. We are proud to be part of this initiative; it places The Coral Beach Estate at the forefront of the energy independence transition.”

For more information, contact IMPOWER, +27 21 300 0470, [email protected], www.impower.solar

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