In late 2022, Heineken South Africa finally unveiled its solar power plant at its Midvaal brewery, this move brings the company closer to reducing carbon emissions in all of its operations across the country.
As it stands, it is the largest solar plant powering a brewery in the country and also the largest within the Heineken Group. The plant has 14 000 panels producing an energy capacity of 6.5MW, which provides 30% of the brewery’s electricity demand. The 190 000 square metre project will generate 17 000MWh on an annual basis.
The solar project incorporates single-axis tracking technology that helps enable the panels to shift with the rise and setting of the sun. Construction of the project took around 7 months to complete and during that period, over 127 job opportunities were created for the Sedibeng community members. This jobs ranged from general workers to technicians, and construction teams.
The plant, which has a lifespan of 25 years, was built by The Sola Group, a provider of renewable energy solutions in South Africa.
The solar plant supports Heineken’s goal to reach net zero status in all its production sites by the year 2030.
