Sun-powered desalination plant is a first for SA

‘The plant will be

CONSTRUCTION begins on the country’s first solar-powered desalination plant at Witsand on Monday.

The spokesperson for the provincial Treasury, Daniel Johnson, confirmed that the unit would be announced by the MEC for Finance, Ivan Meyer, and France’s Minister for Ecological and Inclusive Transition, Nicholas Hulot, in Hessequa on Monday.

The plant’s funding has accumulated R8.6 million in grants.

“The highly cost-effective, solar- powered desalination plant will be commissioned by the end of October at Witsand in the Hessequa Municipality,” Johnson said.

The area suffers from a “structural water deficit, even outside of drought periods”, Johnson added in a statement yesterday.

He said a part of Witsand village had been earmarked for the desalination unit.

Johnson added that the technology, Osmosun, will deliver 100kl of fresh water on a daily basis through green innovation.

“The grant of the French treasury is aimed at implementing innovative green technologies,” he said.

The latest technology, which was developed by French company Mascara Renewable Water, is the world’s first reverse osmosis desalination technology coupled with photovoltaic solar energy.

It is designed to supply coastal or borehole-dependent communities with drinking water at a competitive price and without carbon dioxide emissions.

end of October’