Expansion of solar energy
in Bokpoort, South Africa
Clean energy and
social justice
With the solar energy project in Bokpoort, electricity is generated from solar energy instead of fossil fuels. This helps about 200,000 tons of CO22 being saved annually.
PROJECT FACTS
LOCATION:
Bokpoort, South Africa
PROJECT START:
2017
PROJECT DEVELOPER:
South Pole Carbon Asset Management Ltd.
EXTERNAL AUDITORS:
Carbon Check (Pty) Ltd., TÜV NORD CERT GmbH
QUALITY STANDARDS:
Certified Emission Reduction (CER)
Gold Standard VER (GS VER)
ANNUAL CO22-REDUCTION:
approx. 200,000 t2
LINK TO THE PROJECT DOCUMENTS:
https://registry.goldstandard.org/projects/details/1380
Project benefit
- The project saves an average of 200,000 tons of CO2 per year
- Free electricity for a health center in Bugoye
- Supporting the farming initiatives of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE)
- Reduction of air pollution, better living conditions
- Less dependence on fossil fuels
- Mitigating the negative effects of coal mining
- Creation of more than 50 jobs
- The regional economy benefits from the expansion of the associated infrastructure
- 10% of the project income goes into a "Black Empowerment" program
- Financing of a ventilator for the corona treatment station in Bwera hospital
Project background
The project in the north of South Africa saves CO2-2emissions by generating electricity from solar energy instead of fossil fuels. It improves the energy supply and thus the living conditions of many people in the region.
In South Africa's national power grid, 90% electricity flows from coal-fired power plants. The result is immense greenhouse gas and pollutant emissions. The new power plant uses the free energy of the sun to generate clean, safe electricity.
The system with parabolic mirrors has a maximum total output of 50 megawatts. In combination with a modern storage system that can deliver energy for up to nine hours, the system produces 224 gigawatt hours of renewable electricity a year.
How does climate protection work with solar energy?
Since energy is generated from solar cells without fossil fuels, it is considered emission-free. The expansion of renewable energy generation is essential in order to stop global warming and to secure energy supply in the long term.
The amount of emissions saved in a solar energy project is calculated using the so-called baseline-method: how much CO22 would be generated if the same amount of energy was generated with the region's usual electricity mix?
Contribution to the UN sustainability goals
Project quality standards
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) was established under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The CDM can be used not only for voluntary emission compensation, but also for state climate protection programmes. As a result, governments, companies, and individuals alike can purchase certified emission credits from CDM projects (= Certified Emission Reductions(CERs)) and use them for their respective climate protection purposes.
Gold Standard
The Gold Standard was developed in 2003 by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and more than 20 other international environmental organisations. The standard is supported by the non-profit Gold Standard Foundation based in Switzerland. Gold Standard climate protection projects are characterized by the fact that, in addition to reducing CO2,2they simultaneously contribute to sustainable development in the respective project regions.
