{"id":875482,"date":"2026-09-15T15:02:30","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T13:02:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=875482"},"modified":"2026-09-15T15:02:33","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T13:02:33","slug":"major-south-african-university-trying-not-to-pay-eskom-r60-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/energy\/875482\/major-south-african-university-trying-not-to-pay-eskom-r60-million\/","title":{"rendered":"Major South African university trying not to pay Eskom R60 million"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nelson Mandela University (NMU) in the Eastern Cape is working to decrease its reliance on Eskom for electricity. The goal is to generate 80% of its electricity from renewable sources by May 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The university has installed a 4.4 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) system across all its campuses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This facility will consist of 8,500 solar panels, enabling the university’s seven campuses to source a significant portion of their electricity from solar power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Construction started in mid-November 2025, and the university said it is already generating solar power on our Summerstrand North Campus and the Ocean Sciences Campus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

NMU said that all the campuses will be generating electricity by the end of November 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The university explained that carport roofs are being used to accommodate the solar panels, and where necessary, old asbestos and timber carports are being replaced with smart aluminium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The solar platform is an investment project driven by the Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellors to generate sustainable savings for the University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This supports its long-term sustainability framework, which includes efforts to reduce its carbon footprint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The transition will be facilitated by a new 10-year renewable electricity agreement with Etana Energy, a licensed electricity trader that supplies renewable energy through the national grid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project is being managed through the University\u2019s Infrastructure Services and Space Optimisation Directorate, led by Melvin Syce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Syce explained that the University decided to increase its solar generation capacity due to the significant load-shedding experienced in 2023, when it was without electricity supplied by Eskom for about a third of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nelson Mandela University spends around R60 million every year on electricity supplied by Eskom <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Nelson Mandela University Infrastructure Services and Space Optimisation (ISSO) Directorate, Sustainability Engineer Andre Hefer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nelson Mandela University’s sustainability engineer, Andre Hefer, said that the institution will purchase between 50% and 55% of its power directly from Etana\u2019s renewable sources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new solar photovoltaic (PV) system installed across its campuses is expected to supply an extra 25% to 30% of the university’s electricity needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis will take our renewable energy supply to about 80%. The remaining electricity will be sourced from Eskom,\u201d said Hefer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe university is also strengthening our generator infrastructure to provide centralised backup power during outages.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This installation will build on the previous 1MW solar plant, which has been operational at the university\u2019s Summerstrand South Campus since 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The university aims to reduce its carbon emissions by approximately 12,000 tonnes per year, based on its current annual electricity consumption. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the facility is operational, it is expected to save between R8 million and R10 million annually, as the university currently spends R60 million on Eskom-supplied power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy committing to long-term offtake, Nelson Mandela University is helping to bring new renewable projects onto the grid,\u201d said Etana CEO Evan Rice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLarge electricity users have typically meant mines and heavy industry, but this agreement shows that large public-interest institutions like universities can play just as critical a role,” said Rice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nelson Mandela University has about 33,000 to 35,000 students and operates across seven campuses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six of these campuses are located in Gqeberha (formerly known as Port Elizabeth), while one is situated in George.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The university comprises seven faculties: Business and Economic Sciences, Education, Engineering, Health Sciences, Humanities, Law, and Science. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It offers over 500 study programmes, which range from higher certificates and diplomas to bachelor’s degrees and doctorates.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of these programs incorporate practical workplace experience or cooperative education as part of their core curriculum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of South Africa’s biggest universities is cutting dependence on Eskom and trying to reduce its hefty electricity bill.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":875576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2099846458455339485","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2206267873526945","_sma_instagram_post_id":"17888802849682161","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9874],"tags":[1164,26137,2242],"class_list":["post-875482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","tag-eskom","tag-nelson-mandela-university","tag-renewable-energy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=875482"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875482\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":875592,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875482\/revisions\/875592"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/875576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=875482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=875482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=875482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}