Transalloys Photovoltaic (PV) Solar Energy Facility, Emalahleni Local Municipality, Nkangala District Municipality, Mpumalanga

Transalloys (Pty) Ltd propose to develop the Transalloys Solar PV Facility and its associated electrical infrastructure adjacent to their smelter complex on Clewer Road 1034, Witbank in the Emalahleni Local Municipality. The project is located in the greater Nkangala District Municipality of Mpumalanga province approximately 34km west of Middleberg and 37km east of Bronkhorstspruit and within the REDZ9 in Emalahleni and the International Corridor.

A technically suitable project site of ~235ha has been identified by Transalloys (Pty) Ltd for the establishment of the PV facility. The proposed facility will have a contracted capacity of up to 50MW and will include the following infrastructure:
Solar PV array comprising PV modules and mounting structures (monofacial or bifacial and a single axis tracking system)
Inverters and transformers
Cabling between the project components
On-site facility substation and power lines between the solar PV facility and the plant.
Site offices, Security office, operations and control, and maintenance and storage laydown areas
Access roads, internal distribution roads

The PV facility is proposed in order to meet Transalloys’ current electricity demands and future expansion requirements. The plant will be a captive generating plant whereby generated electricity will be fed directly into the smelter complex for direct consumption. The development of the power plant project would effectively mean that Transalloys would become independent of the Eskom electricity grid, thereby creating additional capacity within the Eskom grid for use by other electricity users.