Chantex Heavy Machinery
Parow Industria, Cape Town
The ambition
Chantex Heavy Machine Shop boasts with some of the biggest machinery in the Western Cape and services the field of heavy component engineering. Established in 1999, the company grows annually and aims to continuously supply cost effective, timeous and quality products and services. With full ISO accreditation and stringent production and service goals, South Africa’s lack of consistent energy supply was fundamentally crippling the company’s ability to reach its goals.
Load shedding (rolling blackouts) has been around since 2017, with no end in sight. Heavy machinery manufacturing is energy-intensive and load shedding has a negative impact on manufacturing volumes. When load shedding occurs, machines are switched off and production stops. Over and above the potential loss of stock, the power disruptions could damage equipment, which can be costly to repair or replace. For manufacturers, these blackouts directly lead to disruptions in production, inefficient application of labour and increasing costs.
The electricity tariff quadrupled in South Africa from 2008 to 2022 in real terms. Considering the state of the national power provider’s debt and infrastructure failures, consumers can likely expect a continuation of above inflation electricity price increases over the next several years. These unmanageable increases pose a serious problem for manufacturers over the long term. In a competitive market, managing expenses is a priority for Chantex.
The solution
We designed a bespoke hybrid solar power generating and storage system, taking the manufacturer’s needs and goals into account. The operations comprise infrastructure of a 7148m² yard and a 4698m² workshop with offices.
A roof mounted solution with a surface of 1721m² was installed across multiple roofs with varying inclinations to make use of these otherwise passive spaces. As with a lot of industrial buildings, there were physical characteristics such as scattered roof spaces that had to be considered in the design and layout.
A hybrid system combines a grid-tied system that is connected to the utility power grid, with the addition of energy storage. Batteries store the excess energy that is produced onsite for use during load shedding, ensuring a more consistent supply of clean energy. Therefore, the manufacturer’s reliance on the national power provider was reduced.
360kWp
Total installed capacity
666
Solar panels installed
320kWh
Battery capacity
2
Inverters installed
“We understand the need of a manufacturing concern to be able to continue its high-quality operations in the face of South Africa’s energy crisis. Loadshedding has crippled so many businesses due to interrupted production. Choosing solar energy is an environmentally sound and commercially viable option to ensure Chantex’s sustainability.”
Claude Peters, Managing Director, RenEnergy Africa
Bespoke equipment room
The benefits
The system gives 1302kWh annual yield
Manufacturing activities can continue with no or little disruption
Reduced reliance on national power provider
Average annual CO2 savings estimated at 523 tonnes – that’s the equivalent of 260 petrol cars driving for a year
Reduced electricity expenditure directly impacts the manufacturer’s operational costs
Surplus energy generation is captured in the onsite energy storage to provide a secure source of renewable energy
The business significantly reduced its environmental impact and reliance of fossil fuels
CO2
Annual saving of
523 tonnes – that’s the equivalent of
260 petrol cars driving for a year
Note that all estimated performance figures are calculated using industry-standard systems and norms, assume ideal operating conditions, and would have been estimated as at the time of the installation. CO2 equivalent analogies source