SWSC’S SOLAR POWER PLANT UNDERWAY

MBABANE – SWSC is getting its ducks in a row to boost competitiveness through the setting up of a solar power plant.

This move is expected to ensure that water shortages which hit the country at the peak of the El Nino drought are not reported should another disaster strike.

To avert a repeat of the unfortunate situation where hundreds of homesteads and businesses, especially in the capital city, went for days without sufficient water supply, the corporation intends to set up a 10 Megawatts (MW) solar power plant. 

Public Affairs Manager Nomahlubi Matiwane explained that the supply of potable water and wastewater treatment services is energy intensive, leading to high operating costs with major impacts on sustainability of the operations. She said the corporation is also expanding into areas that have high poverty indices, which makes recovery of services provision costs very difficult.

“It is therefore necessary for the corporation to investigate other options that can sustain the operations of the organisation, reducing the burden on water consumers, while also bringing economic sustainability within the country,” Matiwane said.

Matiwane disclosed that the project cost, of the plant earmarked to be located at the Matsapha Industrial adjacent to the new SWSC Waste Water Treatment Plant, would only be ascertained once feasibility has been completed. She said the project location had been selected on the basis of its good average solar radiation.

Currently, Matiwane clarified that the corporation is in the process of sourcing knowledgeable consultants to carry out a detailed study to ascertain if project is practical and if so, the most feasible plant capacity in MW that can be developed and the related costs which include (capital, operational and maintenance).

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