• Case Study

Boitumelo Farm

A 278 kWp ground-mount solar system with containerised battery storage, integrated with the farm’s existing diesel generator, to keep a medicinal cannabis greenhouse running through loadshedding.
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  • Location

    Curry's Post, KwaZulu-Natal

  • System size

    278 kWp DC / 220 kW AC + 645 kWh battery

  • technology

    Ground-mount solar PV + battery

  • Industry

    Agriculture

  • The challenge

Every successful project begins with a clear understanding of the client’s operational environment, energy requirements, and long-term business objectives.

Boitumelo Farm grows medicinal cannabis in greenhouses that need around 18 hours of controlled lighting a day, plus heating in cold weather. Any power interruption risks losing an active crop cycle.

The site was running on a 450 kVA diesel generator during loadshedding – costly, and a single generator failure would have been catastrophic. Cutting Eskom spend on a Ruraflex tariff of R2.09/kWh mattered, but the brief was to cut diesel reliance and guarantee continuous power.

The load is unusual and seasonal: a high, near-continuous base load of about 50 kW at night, expected to double to about 100 kW as more grow lights were added. The existing generator had to be integrated, not replaced, and a pending switch from an electric boiler to gas added uncertainty to final load sizing.

  • Our solution

Working closely with the client, our team designed a solution that balanced engineering excellence, financial viability, and long-term operational performance.

Nesa Power delivered a 278 kWp ground-mounted, fixed-tilt AC-coupled solar PV system (612 modules, 2 × Huawei 100 kW inverters, 220 kW AC) paired with a containerised Hubble battery (645 kWh nominal / 516 kWh usable) on a 500 kW Megarevo PCS, integrated with the existing 450 kVA diesel generator via an automatic transfer switch.

The solar array was deliberately oversized relative to the load so surplus daytime solar – not the battery – carries the site during daytime loadshedding. That allowed a smaller battery, sized to bridge roughly three hours of overnight critical load, with the generator retained as the automatic deep backstop.

The commercial structure was hybrid and zero-capex: a 20-year solar PPA at R1.65/kWh and a 10-year battery lease at R91,666/month ex VAT, both with buyout options after year 3. The system is modelled to produce about 424 MWh/year.

  • Gallery

Project Gallery

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  • Looking ahead

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