06/03/2016

AfricagetsitsfirstsolarpoweredairportCNN.com

Africa gets its first solar-powered airport

By Milena Veselinovic, for CNN
Updated 1217 GMT (2017 HKT) March 4, 2016

8 photos: Harnessing Africa's sun

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South Africa's George Airport has become the first on the continent to be powered by solar energy. Th
new solar plant on its grounds, it will harness 41% of its energy needs from the Sun.

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Story highlights
George Airport (GRJ) is Africa's first solar
powered airport
Located in South Africa, it gets 41% of its
energy from solar panels

(CNN)South Africa has ramped up its green

credentials by unveiling the continent's first solarpowered airport.
Located halfway between Cape Town and Port
Elizabeth, George Airport will meet 41% of its energy
demand from a brand new 200 square meter solar
power plant built on its grounds.

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The facility, which was officially launched last week,

has 3,000 photovoltaic modules, and will gradually
increase capacity to deliver 750Kw power when it reaches full production.
It cost just over a million dollars to build, and is part of South Africa's commitment to introduce a mix of
energy sources to all its airports.

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"As an airports management company running nine airports nationally, part of our strategic objective is to
minimize our environmental impact," Skhumbuzo Macozoma, chairman of the Airports Company South
Africa Board said in a statement.

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"Harnessing solar power is a viable cleaner energy source which contributes towards diversifying the energy
mix. This plant will ensure that the airport is self-sustaining in terms of its power needs, and will eventually
extend to the broader community within the George municipality," he added.
The airport serves the Western Cape town of George which lies in the heart of the scenic Garden Route,
famous for its lush vegetation and lagoons which are dotted along the landscape.
It handles over 600,000 passengers a year, many of them tourists, but it's also a national distribution hub for
cargo such as flowers, fish, oysters, herbs and ferns.

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The Geoge Airport is located along South Africa's Garden Route, an area of outstanding
natural beauty.
The clean energy initiative follows in the footsteps of India's Cochin International airport -- the world's first
entirely solar powered airport, and Galapagos Ecological Airport, built in 2012 to run solely on Sun and wind
power.
The George Airport project is the latest in the string of alternative energy investments designed to help
relieve the burden of irregular electricity supply, which has long plagued parts of Africa.
Around 635 million people, or 57% of the population,
are estimated to live without power on the continent,
with that number climbing to 68% in Sub-Saharan
Africa.

Related Video: Access to electricity across

Africa is rising 00:56

Last year, a UK start-up collaborated with Shell to

build a solar-powered soccer pitch in the Nigerian
city of Lagos, but governments are also increasingly
harnessing the Sun's energy for major infrastructure
projects.
Last month, Morocco switched on what will be the
world's largest concentrated solar plant when it's
completed. It is predicted to power one million
homes by 2018. In Rwanda, a $23.7 million solar
plant has increased the country's generation capacity
by 6% and lighting up 15,000 homes.
Follow@CNNAfrica

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8 photos: Africa's alternative energy revolution

With a background in engineering, Mutoba Ngoma founded Tapera Industries in 2006 and has since d
recycled oil can be used for more than alternative energy.

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