Simonsig Wine Estate, purveyors of the famous Kaapse Vonkel brand of sparkling wines, has a new “spark”: a 113 kWp solar system at its farm in Stellenbosch. The Estate has collaborated with SOLA to install the solar system that will power the wine estate during daylight hours with clean energy.

“This type of collaboration is essential to our business,” said Billy Sendin, CFO at Simonsig. “We are committed to sustaining the source of our wines, so producing our power from the sun is directly aligned to our goals,” he added. “It’s great that our wine is now produced using solar energy, adding an extra “spark” to our Kaapse Vonkel brand, too!”

SOLA recently secured R400 M to finance and build commercial solar PV projects in South Africa. SOLA designed, constructed and continues to own and operate the PV plant on the farm. “We are delighted that Simonsig took steps toward procuring renewable energy directly to support their operations,” said Chris Haw, head of Project Finance at SOLA. “SOLA owns the PV system, and Simonsig simply buys the solar energy directly from us, giving them the ability to concentrate on their core business – making great wine,” he added.

The solar PV plant is 113 kWp in size and will produce around 180 000 kWh of clean energy per year. The energy is produced by 320 polycrystalline solar modules that are mounted on the farm’s north-facing roofs. The clean energy produced by the panels will avoid around 160 tons of carbon emissions – the equivalent of taking 34 vehicles off of the roads – per annum.