Heineken South Africa launched a solar plant in Sedibeng, Midvaal brewery on the 26th of October in order to reduce carbon emissions in all its operations.

The source told the reporter.today that the solar plant started producing power in May this year and is the largest free-standing solar plant that powers a brewery in South Africa. It is also the largest within the Heineken group. The construction process took about seven months to complete. During this time,  a total of 127 jobs were generated. This built-in grid-connected solar project features single-axis tracking technology that allows the panels to move with the rising and setting of the sun.

The launch was among others attended by Midvaal Local Municipality Executive Mayor Peter Teixeira who commended the brewery.

“With load shedding constantly sweeping through the country, we commend Heineken for exploring alternative routes to keep their business functioning and thriving.

As we know, load shedding disrupts many business operations leading to loss in production and productivity. The constant power surges because of turning the power on and off sometimes cause damage to electronics and machinery. Businesses are forced to factor in increased costs to procure alternative power supplies or risk closing for the hours they are affected by load shedding.

These factors lead to revenue loss which may eventually result in job losses.”

Teixeira also told local newspapers that the move to go solar benefited the Midvaal community.

“By reducing its reliance on Eskom, Heineken is protecting people’s jobs and they can continue to increase their revenue, therefore, continuing to contribute to Midvaal’s local economy.

The residents of Midvaal Local Municipality are already benefitting from this project as Heineken ensured that they hired locals during the construction of the solar plant.”

Submitted by: Cornelius D. Mofokeng.