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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

First woman appointed to represent the religious community on UFS Council

2015-12-08

Dr Nthabeleng Rammile

The Council of the University of the Free State (UFS) approved the appointment of Dr Nthabeleng Rammile as representative of the religious community during its meeting on Friday 4 December 2015. She is the first woman to be appointed in this portfolio on Council.

“We are really privileged to have on Council a person of high integrity who not only has a sound knowledge of the academic world, but also brings real skills in marketing and brand management to university governance. In addition, Dr Rammile has a heart for students, including both their academic and spiritual needs,” says Prof Jonathan Jansen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS.

Dr Rammile, an alumnus of the UFS, was a lecturer in the university’s Department of Business Management from 2003. She ended her lecturing tenure when she decided to join the ministry full-time in December 2014. She was ordained in 2003 as a Pastor of the Global Reconciliation Church. While at the UFS, she completed her Master's in Services Marketing and a PhD in Brand Management.

She played a pivotal mentoring role and gave her students first-hand work experience by working closely with the private sector, as she wanted to ensure that her students leave the UFS with a real understanding of the working world.

At the Global Reconciliation Church, she is responsible for women’s ministry, community outreach projects, as well as multimedia services. She is passionate about inspiring and empowering women to become successful in all spheres of their lives, namely career, business, motherhood, academia and socially. Dr Rammile is an advocate for a healthy lifestyle, and she also conducts workshops that teach women in her ministry how to live healthy and well-balanced lifestyles.

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