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Launche of World's Largest Solar Electrification Project in Africa

EarthVision Reports
18 February 1999

LONDON, February 18, 1999 - Shell announced today that next week it will launch the world's first large scale commercial solar electrification project in South Africa. The project, which will be officially inaugurated by South African President Nelson Mandela, will eventually bring power to 50,000 homes in South Africa's impoverished Eastern Cape province. Reuters reported today that the company plans to install 6,000 home systems within six months and to reach 50,000 homes within the next three years. The article quotes Willem-Jan van Wijk, a director of Shell International Renewables Ltd. and Head of Shell Solar, as saying the project will be a commercially viable venture financed directly from customer payments. He said that if it works as planned, it will be the first real proof that rural electrification can be a sustainable activity. The company will then replicate the model in other countries around the world. Reuters reported that the plan involves each household being furnished with its own $500 solar panel and battery which will supply enough power to satisfy most domestic needs.

References

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