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George,
a town of just 150,000 residents on South Africa's south coast, is home to
Africa's first 'green' airport to be powered by the sun ©Gianluigi Guercia
(AFP)
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At first glance there's nothing out of the
ordinary about the regional airport in George, a town of just 150,000 residents
on South Africa's south coast.
In fact though, the small site is Africa's first
"green" airport to be powered by the sun.
The control tower, escalators, check-in desks,
baggage carousels, restaurants and ATMs -- every service here depends on a
small solar power station, located a few hundred metres away in a field of
dandelions next to a runway.
Its 2,000 solar panels produce up to 750 kW every
day, easily surpassing the 400 kW needed to run the airport.
The excess is fed back into the municipal power
grid, and a computer screen in the terminal informs passengers: "Within
this month (September), 274 households were supplied through this system with
green electricity."
For environmentally-conscious travellers keen to
reduce their carbon footprint, it's a welcome development.
"Planes have such a big carbon print,"
said passenger Brent Petersen, 33, in George. "If we compensate, that's
cool."
George Airport was originally built in
apartheid-era South Africa in 1977 to make getting home easier for PW Botha, a
government minister at the time and later president.
It now serves as a transit hub for shipments of
homegrown flowers and oysters, as well as golfers visiting one of the region's
many courses. Some 700,000 passengers pass through its doors each year.
The solar plant, launched in September 2015, is
the second solar-run airport in the world after Cochin airport in southern
India.
Nestled between the Indian Ocean on one side and
the majestic Outeniqua Mountains on the other, George was a surprising location
for the first attempt at a solar-powered airport in South Africa.
- Ambitious
project -
The town's weather is unpredictable: in the space
of half an hour, the temperature can plummet by 10 degrees celsius, the blue
skies quickly replaced by a steady drizzle.
But so far, so good: even on overcast days, the
plant still produces some power.
At night or when necessary, the system
automatically switches over to the traditional power grid.
"The thinking was if we put (the solar
system) in the worst unpredictable weather, it will absolutely work in any
other airport in the country," the airport's maintenance director Marclen
Stallenberg told AFP.
The environmental value of the ambitious project
is already evident.
Since solar became the airport's main source of
power, the hub has reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by 1,229 tonnes –- the
equivalent of 103,934 litres of fuel.
The electricity bill has been cut by 40 percent
in the space of a year, "which is a plus for me on the budget," said
airport manager Brenda Voster.
Voster says it will take another five to 10 years
to pay off the initial 16-million rand (US$1.2 million) cost.
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Africa
gets is first solar-powered airport in George, with a plant that converts solar
energy into direct current electricity using solar panels ©Gianluigi Guercia
(AFP)
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Meanwhile, regular power cuts, which in recent
years have plagued Africa's most developed economy, are a thing of the past,
she adds.
Heavily dependent on coal, which is the source of
90 percent of the country's electricity, South Africa is looking to diversify
its options to avoid power cuts.
Robyn Spence, who works at Dollar car hire
company at the airport, said they "had to replace quite a few
computers" fried by electricity surges caused by power cuts last year –-
no longer an issue with the solar system.
- Untapped
potential -
But not all the retailers at the airport are
feeling the benefits yet.
Lelona Madlingozi, a kitchen manager at Illy
restaurant in the main terminal, said they had two power cuts lasting about
three hours each just a month earlier. "We could not sell anything in the
shop," she said.
Restaurants, said the airport, are not one of the
essential services prioritised during power cuts.
Expanding the use of renewable energy is a key
focus for management firm, Airports Company South Africa, said its president
Skhumbuzo Macozoma.
The company's goal is to achieve "carbon
neutrality", or net zero carbon emissions, by 2030.
In a country with an estimated average of 8.5
hours of sunshine a day throughout the year, solar's untapped potential looks
huge.
After the success in George, the airports in
Kimberley -- South Africa's diamond capital -- and Upington near the Namibian
border have also gone green, with three other regional airports next in line.
George Airport now plans on increasing the capacity of the small power station by an extra 250 kW and will soon install batteries capable of conserving energy generated during the day for use at night.
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