Donation of 300 school uniforms in South Africa

The team of Sener in South Africa responsible for the Ilanga-1 solar thermal plant has made a donation that enabled the distribution of school uniforms to 300 schoolchildren with limited with scarce economic resources. The donation has been made in collaboration with the partners in the project – Cobra and Emvelo, which, along with Sener, form the Seratype joint venture, responsible for the operation and maintenance of the plant. The uniforms have been distributed to 3 elementary school – Karos, Vaalkoppies and Olyven.

The donation has been made in favor of the Community Police Forum (CPF) of the SAPS (the South African police force), which aims to build closer ties with the local community to create a safer environment. This year, among other projects, the CPFs set the goal of helping underprivileged schoolchildren.

The presentation was attended by, among others, the Brigadier of the local police, the Chief People Officer of Seratype, the Head of community relations and the Plant Manager, our colleague José Antonio García Moreno.

Social commitment through our projects – and beyond

On a regular basis, Sener’s team in South Africa carries out actions with a positive social impact in the towns near the complexes in which the company operates. For example, through education or socioeconomic and business development programs. Together with its partners, Sener offers training courses and scholarships, and donates furniture and sanitary facilities to local schools. Currently, Sener and its partners are promoting a training scholarship program, offering several positions in the maintenance, warehouse, and environmental departments, which will bring the technology used in the facilities closer to the local population.

On the other hand, the projects carried out in South Africa have a positive impact for the sustainable development of the country: Ilanga-1, with an installed capacity of 100 MWe, supplies clean energy equivalent to the needs of approximately 100,000 homes, avoiding the equivalent emission of 90,000 tons of CO₂ per year for 20 years.

Ilanga-1 is in its fifth year of operation, since the consortium formed by Sener, Cobra and Emvelo was entrusted with the development (EPC) of the plant, as well as its operation and maintenance. Along with Bokpoort and Kathu, it is one of the solar thermal plants developed by Sener in the country. It has nearly 870,000 m² of curved mirrors and is equipped with a molten salt storage system (technology patented by Sener) that allows 5 hours of thermal energy storage.