Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items

UFS installs solar plants on all campuses, bolstering renewable energy amid continuing power cuts

18 August 2023 | Story Lunga Luthuli | Photo Francois van Vuuren

Bloemfontein Campus Solar Farm — The solar plant on the UFS’s Bloemfontein Campus, part of the university’s commitment to combatting loadshedding and embracing sustainable energy.

The University of the Free State (UFS) has installed solar plants across its three campuses.

The university says this is in response to the call for urgent solutions to loadshedding and the promotion of environmentally sustainable, cleaner, and renewable energy solutions.

Nicolaas Esterhuysen, Director of Engineering Services at UFS University Estates, said,

“The PV (photovoltaic) systems are grid-tied without storage to ensure maximum benefits and faster payback periods.”

Esterhuysen said the UFS has saved up to R32,5 million since the first solar plant was commissioned in 2017 to help the UFS reduce the impact of loadshedding and its carbon footprint and energy costs. “This will substantially increase this year with the commissioning of two large new ground-mounted solar plants on the Bloemfontein Campus,” he said.

“The microgrid installation on Qwaqwa Campus is one of the biggest solar diesel hybrid systems installed in South Africa. It allows us to keep the campus running despite excessive power interruptions.”

The UFS is currently embarking on research as part of the Grid-related Research Group (GRRP) under the Interdisciplinary Centre for Digital Futures (ICDF) to also help staff and students with understanding renewable energy and sustainability.

Esterhuysen said the plants are further evidence of the UFS’s commitment to renewable and energy saving solutions. “It is our flagship project, but our focus is also on energy saving initiatives – to ensure we are becoming more energy efficient and eliminate energy wastage. We have plans for expansion on all campuses. Some of the highlights are an off-grid solution for the new student centre at Qwaqwa Campus and to make South Campus a self-sustaining campus.”

The installed grid-tied system solar plants are operating without batteries on all three campuses, giving the university an optimal configuration between capital cost and payback period.

The energy generated at the solar plants:

Bloemfontein Campus – 3688 kWp

Qwaqwa Campus – 918 kWp

South Campus – 759 kWp

Paradys – 125 kWp

News Archive

Prof Conradie makes UFS proud with prestigious Chemistry award

2015-03-25

Prof Jeanet Conradie and Dr Karel von Eschwege

Photo: Leonie Bolleurs

Prof Jeanet Conradie, Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of the Free State (UFS), has received the Merck Medal for 2014 from the South African Chemistry Institute (SACI), for her paper Redox potentials of ligands and complexes. A DFT approach, S. Afr. J. Chem. 2011, 64, 203-209.

Dr Karel von Eschwege, the co-author of the paper is also from the Department of Chemistry.

The medal is awarded to the senior author of the paper, published in the South African Journal of Chemistry in a specific field of chemistry, that is judged to have made the most significant contribution to the discipline. The award for 2014, covering papers published in the period 2010 to 2013, was in the field of Inorganic Chemistry.

As part of the award, Prof Conradie will deliver the Merck Medal Lecture at the presentation ceremony.

In 2014, Prof Conradie was runner-up in the senior category for Distinguished Women Researchers: Physical and Engineering Science in the Department of Science and Technology’s 2014 Women in Science Awards. The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) also invited her to become a member.

Prof Conradie believes to reach a goal, you have to utilise opportunities that come your way. “Remember, results speak for themselves. Any researcher can prove himself or herself this way. Nothing in life is for free; you need to work very, very hard. This is only possible when you love and enjoy your work,” she said.

Back

Economic and Management Sciences

Education

Health Sciences

The Humanities

Law

Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Theology and Religion

Open Distance Learning

Business School

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept