Power your farm’s future: Access grants, finance and expert guidance for solar power
Standard Bank’s PowerPulse has entered a pilot partnership with The Land Bank, which has been tasked with distributing the R1.2 billion Agro Energy Fund (AEF) to qualifying agricultural businesses, to help them fund the purchase of capital equipment and infrastructure for alternative energy sources directly linked to energy-intensive farming operations.
PowerPulse’s role in the partnership is to connect Land Bank clients and any other qualifying agriculture clients to qualified service providers.
The PowerPulse concierge team provides hands on support throughout the proposal development and installation phases of the journey.
PowerPulse is an industry-first digital platform that connects agricultural, industrial and commercial entities to the right solar solution for their needs, providing expert support from assessment to installation.
PowerPulse offers a cash flow tool, funnels custom proposals from a list of accredited providers and provides a proposal comparison report to businesses seeking to invest in solar energy generation.
Rising electricity prices
There are many reasons to explore renewable energy options, but cost leads in the commercial space.
NERSA approved an Eskom tariff increase of 12.72% for local authorities and 12.74% for Eskom direct customers, effective July 2024, having already granted a 18.65% increase in 2023/24.
Media reports indicate that Eskom will be seeking at least a 44% increase in 2025 and larger increases, going forward.
Depending on the scale of a solar PV plant, it can produce energy at one-half to one-third of the cost per kilowatt hour that Eskom currently charges.
Input costs required for intensive farming are increasing and are sensitively linked to changes in the oil price, the price of raw materials, and exchange rate fluctuations.
According to the WWF’s ‘Agriculture: Facts & Trends, South Africa’, declining farming profitability and water scarcity has left South Africa with less than two thirds of the number of farms it had in the early 1990s.
AEF explored
During the AEF launch event in 2023, then-Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Ms Thoko Didiza emphasised the significance of the AEF for farmers, blending grant funding from the Department with loan funding from the Land Bank at a scale ranging from 30%-70% grant, depending on the applicant’s size.
The grant funding scale ranges from up to R500 000 for small-scale farmers, to up to R1.5 million for large-scale farmers.
One-stop solar solution for farmers
“At PowerPulse, we have a panel of vetted and accredited service providers who provide engineering, procurement and construction across all sectors in South Africa.”
“The majority of these providers have solid experience in the agriculture sector and are able to tailor-make a solution to suit the farmer’s needs,” explains Andrew Legat, New Business Lead at PowerPulse.
Exploring the feasibility of installing a solar PV solution and getting competitive quotes from several vetted suppliers via PowerPulse, and then accessing funding via the Land Bank, gives the farmer peace of mind.
PowerPulse is an industry-first digital platform that connects you to the right solar solution for your business and offers expert support from assessment to installation. Get a free solar feasibility report and custom proposals from accredited providers.
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