SOLAR ENERGY RUNS WINE FARM

The remarkable success of one of the largest private photovoltaic installations at Villiera Wines in Stellenbosch, proves South Africa has the expertise and technical skill to deliver world-class solar solutions. It also highlights that opting for solar as a sustainable energy resource has important financial and investment implications.

Villiera Wines is a family-owned farm in the Stellenbosch area that has long established environmentally responsible vine growing and wine making, but its installation of solar panels last year was regarded as a giant leap by the industry and its co-owner, Simon Grier. Villiera produces up to 1.5 billion bottles of wine a year, exporting to 22 countries. However, Villiera Wines remains loyal to the local market with 70 percent of their wine being produced for South Africa.

The family’s decision-making process in deciding to go solar is vital because it represents a paradigm shift on several fronts. From the understanding of the need for renewable energy, to promoting public consciousness of that need. Grier also recognised that choosing solar was not just “an opportunity to collaborate down the environmental path”, but also a sustainable, financial investment.

There are “a lot of risky areas in the wine industry” comments Grier. Firstly, electricity is a significant cost factor in running a wine estate, and turning to green energy to decrease reliance on the national electricity grid was an attractive philosophy for him and co-owners Jeff Grier (brother) and Cathy Brewer, and a smart financial decision too.

Secondly, farming, and especially in Villiera’s case, wine farming, is a capital intensive business. For example, most grape growers aim to replace 5% of their vines each year, and it takes four years until the new vines are established and producing grapes of a good enough quality to be made into wine. The cost of purchasing wine is also increasing. Last year it rose by 25 percent.

This renewable energy project involved approximately 900m2 of solar panels – 539 solar modules in total – mounted across three of the cellar’s roofs. This installed capacity is producing a total 726 kWh a day, with around five hours of sunlight at 140 kWp (peak). To put this in perspective, an average family of four consumes in the region of just 30 – 35 kWh a day. The whole farm benefits from the energy, including all staff and workers. Grier excluded batteries from the system to prevent doubling the cost of installation. Instead, Eskom’s grid is used to supplement demand in times of shortage, at night or during the harvest season. But when the solar is high, Grier declares that they can “run the whole farm” on renewable energy.

Despite many farmers complaining that the upfront capital is too great, Grier states that “the panels are expected to pay for themselves over seven to eight years”. It costs R 165,000 to create a plantation and a further R 30, 000 a year to run one – and a farm can only start selling wine after three to four years. Furthermore, the renewable energy Production Tax Credit (PTC) incentive from Government “provides for an accelerated cash flow benefit”. “Why would anyone not want to make that investment!” declares a confident Grier.

The success of Villiera’s switch to solar energy is huge, firstly with it being completed in just eight weeks with no interruption to it’s daily operations. Secondly, Villiera was named as Marks & Spencer’s International Plan A Supplier of the Year, (the first time the award has gone outside the United Kingdom) and the site has been running for close to a year without a single problem to date. Villiera Wines have also just applied for the title of ‘Bio Diversity Wine Champions’ in South Africa.

The Villiera Wines solar project brought about by Grier’s vision can teach other business and industry leaders to evaluate solar in a difference way – not as a socially desirable ‘do good’ initiative but as a low risk, high return investment opportunity. Since the installations, Grier remarks, “there has been huge amounts of positive feedback and interest in the farm”, from both the public and other farmers.

Grier has continued down his environmental path since the installations, investing in two electric cars that lower his carbon footprint and make it fifty percent faster to move around his farm. A secondary farm, for mammals and birds, was also harvested by Villiera Wines, which included the planting of fifty thousand trees.