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Darling estate solar farm depicts novel approach to embedded power generation

Darling estate solar farm depicts novel approach to embedded power generation
From Left (SPS Team) Charles Neethling, Richard Olley (Gridworks), Dorita van Themaat, Francois van Themaat, Stefan Bothma, Paul Mansour, Mayor Harold Cleophas, (DGCE Team) Klaus Göbel, Mary-Park. (Photo: Supplied)
Lindsey Schutters
By Lindsey Schutters
17 Mar 2025
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Phase 1 of Darling Green Country Estate’s 6MW, grid-tied solar farm gets Tannie Evita’s stamp of approval and points the way for private microgrids.

The first problem you run into when tying a housing development estate to a 1.2MW solar farm is that, even at full occupancy, people won’t be at home to use the energy at its peak capacity. What did the Darling Green Country Estate developers do to mitigate that surplus electricity risk? They entered into a three-year power purchase agreement with the Swartland Municipality that allows excess energy generated during the estate’s construction phase to be fed into the municipal grid.

Tied to a 1MVA peak substation, the solar installation, featuring about 2,000 single-axis tracking panels, is expected to produce between 2.5GWh and 2.6GWh of clean energy annually, and save roughly 2,500 tons of CO2 emissions per year.

This development – a collaboration between Sustainable Power Solutions, TouchPoint Energy and the estate developers – represents a novel approach to embedded generation that could serve as a model for other municipalities.

“It was a difficult puzzle to put together because we wanted to build a fairly large-scale solar plant for a new estate where consumption is only just beginning,” developer Klaus-Gustav Göbel said at the launch event.

“The three-year offtake agreement with Swartland Municipality was what ultimately unlocked it.”

Klaus-Gustav Göbel, founding shareholder of Darling Green Country Estate. (Photo: Supplied)


BEE wheel and deal


Phase 2 of the project is a 5MW solar generation plant just outside Malmesbury that the estate will use to wheel electricity through the grid.

That phase is currently in its final design stage, undergoing Eskom’s approval process, and is expected to be commissioned by mid-2026.

The developers brought in Ranaka, a town planning and non-profit organisation, to facilitate conversations with the local community that was initially sceptical about the development.

“It’s not often that you find large businesses or property developers who actually have the courage to say they want to create spaces and places for the community,” said Sebastiaan Lewis, former leader of the Darling Action Group regional black business forum.

Lewis is now employed as a site manager by the developers and is spearheading the establishment of a business entity that will form the BEE partner for the estate.

“We’re looking for 30%,” he told Daily Maverick as he pointed to the six security guards around the solar farm and residential estate – sourced from a local contractor who also happens to run the shuttle (taxi) service on duty ferrying guests at the launch.

Graph depicting small-scale embedded generation uptake by South African municipalities. (Source: Salga)


Signs of things to come


According to the South African Local Government Association’s December 2023 report, SA has seen exponential growth in solar PV installations, driven by loadshedding, rising electricity prices and falling solar technology costs.

By the first quarter of 2023, more than 5,659MW of solar PV had been installed nationally across various market segments.

The number of municipalities allowing embedded generation installations has increased from just 10 in 2016 to 71 in 2023, with 67 establishing formal application processes and 43 approving embedded generation tariffs.

Swartland Municipality is among those with established embedded generation tariffs, with an export tariff of 108.7413c/kWh for net metering.

Sustainable Power Solutions team (from left) Charles Neethling, Richard Olley (Gridworks), Dorita van Themaat, Francois van Themaat, Stefan Bothma, Paul Mansour, Mayor Harold Cleophas (DGCE Team), Klaus Göbel, Mary-Park. (Photo: Supplied)


Evita se Perron


Pieter-Dirk Uys was also in attendance, with his character Evita Bezuidenhout serving as the brand ambassador for both the Oude Post retirement estate that will launch in April and the Darling Green Country Estate.

Oude Post is a partnership between the estate, and assisted living and frail care specialists Totalcare.

Strategy Projects has been appointed as the main contractor for the Oude Post expansion and the fully complete estate is expected to yield 224 jobs to the community – with Tannie Evita as a resident.

Residents of Darling Green Country estate cannot install their own solar, but the developers are encouraging them to install battery storage to further enhance the electricity supply during the night-time hours. DM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REeWvTRUpMk

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