100,000
equivalent households
CLEAN, NON-POLLUTING ENERGY
Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
1 in 8 people still do not have access to electricity. In order to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, it is necessary to increase the use of renewable energy from 25 % today to 38 % in 2025.
ACCIONA is positioning itself as a key player in addressing the growth in energy demand while curbing the progress of global warming and promoting the transition to a decarbonized energy model.
CLIMATE ACTION
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
The generation and use of energy is responsible for 74 % of total greenhouse gas emissions in the world. This activity is the largest contributor to global warming. Investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency and other low carbon technologies will continue to be essential to meet the new needs of humanity and to minimise their negative impact on the environment.
ACCIONA considers the fight against climate change and its related effects to be a strategic priority. The Company is working to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in order to contribute to the progress of society and respond to the main challenges of sustainable development in the areas of infrastructure, water and energy, leading the transition to a low-carbon economy.
The Sishen plant in South Africa was the largest photovoltaic plant built by ACCIONA in the world and the plant that produced the most electricity in Africa, and its forecast annual generation is 216 GWh, making it the highest-producing photovoltaic plant in Africa with generation equivalent to the consumption of 100,000 South African homes.
The plant has a peak capacity of 94.2 megawatts (74 MW nominal), with 319,600 photovoltaic panels and if they were arranged in a straight line, the solar modules of Sishen would reach a length of 327 kilometers.
GENERAL INFORMATION
- Location: Dibeng, Northern Cape (South Africa).
- Peak capacity: 94.3 MWp.
- Nominal capacity: 74 MW.
- Technology: Photovoltaic solar with horizontal tracking.
- Start-up: 2014.
- Owners: ACCIONA (54.9%), Royal Bafokeng Holdings (25.1%), Soul City (10%), Dibeng Community Solar Energy Trust (10%).
KEY POINTS
- Average annual production 216 GWh.
- Clean energy equivalent to the demand of 100,000 South African homes.
- 319,600 photovoltaic modules in 470 horizontal trackers
- 327 kilometers of solar panels
- 250 hectares covered
- 208,000 metric tons of CO2 avoided per year
- Local and community development programs.
- More than 3,700 man/days/month, with 94% of the construction workers from South Africa
Key figures
94.3
megawatts of peak power
100,000
South African households
319,600
photovoltaic panels
208,000
tons of CO2 into the atmosphere avoided
216 GWh
Average annual production
Social impact management
Black Economic Empowerment (BEE)
In 2013, ACCIONA completed its studies regarding the impact on the communities of the photovoltaic plant project of Sishen and the wind power facilities of Gouda, South Africa.
These studies revealed a high rate of poverty and unemployment in the projects’ areas of influence. ACCIONA will work on these variables by fostering local employment through the state program Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), which strives to achieve racial equality in South Africa.
TECNOLOGÍA E INNOVACIÓN
PV MODULE DRY CLEANING TEST STANDS
Standardization of cleaning groups for photovoltaic modules that do not require the use of water and do not cause any damage to the module surface for remote locations with water shortages.
RENEWABLE ENERGIES
Sishen: where the sun's the limit
The photovoltaic plant supplying clean energy to tens of thousands of South Africans is, in itself, a colossal feat of engineering. It was only relatively recently that the biggest, yet least populated, region of South Africa stepped out on its own. Until 1994, Northern Cape province came under the ward of Cape Province along with its two sisters, Eastern and Western Cape. Following an administrative split, the three went their own ways.