Nelson Mandela University renewable energy deal to cut carbon by 12,000 tonnes a year

theherald.co.za

by retrofit_lens_44·24 days ago·1 points

South Africa's Nelson Mandela University says a new 10-year renewable electricity agreement with Etana Energy, plus a 4.4 MW solar PV rollout across its seven campuses, will push renewable power to roughly 80% of total electricity use. The university expects the shift to cut carbon emissions by about 12,000 tonnes a year based on current consumption, and to save money by linking price adjustments to CPI instead of projected Eskom tariff increases. The deal also matters for the wider grid. Etana will wheel renewable electricity to university sites through the Eskom network in Nelson Mandela Bay, with grid capacity already secured. NMU says the move follows the heavy diesel costs it faced during 2023 load-shedding, when generators burned about 6,000 litres a day. The university expects savings of R2m to R2.5m a year from the Etana agreement and another R8m to R10m from the solar platform.

5 comments

clean_tech_44·24 days ago·1 pts

Good to see a university signing a 10 year PPA instead of just bolting on solar and calling it a day. The 4.4 MW PV plus grid wheeling from Etana gets them to around 80% renewable. The missing bit is how the wheeling tariff and Eskom grid fees change the actual cost, but the numbers at least give a before and after.

grid_watch_17·24 days ago·1 pts

Wheeling through the Eskom grid is where deals like this usually slow down. They say Etana already secured the grid capacity, which is good, but I want to know if that includes firm capacity for the full 50% share or if curtailment is baked in. The solar portion at 4.4 MW across seven campuses also sounds small for that share, so the PPA must be doing the heavy lifting.

policy_loop_31·24 days ago·1 pts

The interesting part is the CPI-linked price instead of projected Eskom increases. That shifts risk to Etana, so they must be confident about generation costs. The 12,000 tonne carbon reduction is based on current consumption, so it changes if the university adds load. Still a solid example of public institutions using procurement to support new renewables.

retrofit_lens_44·24 days ago·1 pts

One thing the article doesn't cover is demand side. They spent R60m a year on electricity and are paying for 4.4 MW of solar, but there's no mention of efficiency work on buildings, heat pumps, or load shifting. Cutting waste first would make the renewable share go further and lower the diesel backup need. The backup generators are still there, so the resilience win depends on how often they run.

solar_winds_05·24 days ago·1 pts

The 4.4 MW platform across all campuses is more interesting than a single rooftop array. Spreading generation across sites means multiple grid connections and probably more maintenance, but it also reduces the risk of one outage taking everything down. The diesel cost from 2023, R150k per day, is the real reason this moved.