JSE-listed Tiger Brands plans to complete solar installation at four of its manufacturing sites by the end of April, says chief manufacturing officer Derek McKernan.
The packaged goods company last year announced its plans to install solar panels at four of its plants, including its beverages and home and personal care (HPC) facility in Isando, Kempton Park.
Many businesses and households have resorted to alternative energy solutions such as solar, as the country continues to battle frequent power outages.
This week, embattled power utility Eskom announced citizens will have to endure stage six load-shedding indefinitely for now, amid breakdown of more generating units.
During a tour of the Tiger Brands HPC in Isando, McKernan told ITWeb the plant became the first site to have solar power installed onsite.
The site also has natural lighting (skylights) and LED lighting installed at the warehouse.
He revealed the plan is to have all 29 of the Tiger Brands sites on solar within two years.
“Load-shedding has a significant impact on our business in our manufacturing plants. We’ve learnt to compensate; however, it is very disruptive, very expensive, and adds a lot of extra costs and interruptions to our business.
“All of our plants have generator capacity, with the exception of one, but this will be sorted this month.”
The solar power installation is done through the procurement of a power purchase agreement from independent power producers.
Last July, the HPC in Isando increased its generator capacity as a means of mitigating the impact of load-shedding on operations.
According to McKernan, the installation at HPC in Isando is able to provide 400kWh of solar.
Resultantly, 37 500kWh of energy was produced last month, which equates to 11% of the power requirements for the plant, he reveals.
The goal is to have 65% of its electricity requirements at a manufacturing level across SA sourced from sustainable energy solutions by 2030.
It further targets to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 45% against science-based targets by 2030, with a target of net-zero emissions by 2050.
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