The eThekwini Municipality hopes its solar photovoltaic project opened at uShaka Marine World will alleviate pressure on the electricity grid and decrease its carbon footprint.
The municipality’s Energy Office acting manager Sibusiso Ntshalintshali said they would be observing the performance of the systems in the coming 12 months.
The Energy Office Solar project has seen the three-phase project installing Solar Photovoltaic (PV) panels on five municipal buildings.
The embedded rooftop solar PV generation was installed at uShaka Marine Theme Park, Moses Mabhida stadium Sky Car, Metro Police headquarters and the eThekwini Water ,Moses Mabhida People’s Park restaurant, and Sanitation Customer Service buildings.
The project cost US $756,704 inclusive of all operational and maintenance expenses and will be observed over a one-year phase.
UShaka Marine chief executive Stella Khumalo said they were delighted the theme park had been earmarked in piloting the project.
The theme park boasts the biggest installation of solar PV of a capacity of 165.4MWh annually.
The pilot installations are anticipated to save the city 426.75MWh – a saving of US $ 25,498 in the first year.
