Senior Reporter
Coega Steels, Emergent Energy and other stakeholders recently celebrated the completion of a landmark new solar installation — the biggest single project of its sort yet in the Eastern Cape.
The project, comprising 11,484 solar panels and 23 inverters, will deliver 7MW to offset Coega Steels’ considerable energy demands.
Speaking at an event on site on Friday to unveil the completed project, Emergent Energy Eastern Cape project development manager Gordon Upton said the project had its roots in the sustainability vision of the India-based Agni Steels family, which owns Coega Steels.
Coega Steels was established in the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality’s Coega Industrial Development Zone in 2013, and a decade later, in line with this vision, contracted Emergent Energy to install a 785kW peak rooftop solar array at the plant.
He said the steel producer then moved to increase its self-sufficiency still further.
“Emergent Steel was again selected in May 2025 to deliver a 7MW solar plant, comprising 3.9MW of rooftop solar and 3.1MW of ground-mounted solar — the largest single commercial and industrial solar PV [photovoltaic] contract ever awarded in the Eastern Cape.
“That’s what we’re proudly unveiling today [Friday].”
Coega Steels transforms ferrous scrap metal into billets, or semi-finished squares of steel. The company produces about 240,000 tonnes of steel annually.
Coega Steels director Anand Susainathan said the completion of the project was a landmark on the company’s journey to economic, social and environmental sustainability.
“It is now up to us and Matriarch [Asset Managers] to get it running and to maintain it.”
Matriarch representative Yaseen Ravat said he and his team would conduct regular inspections, implementing preventative maintenance and supplying Coega Steels with monthly reports showing them how much electricity and money they were saving.
“We also have a two-person team that will clean the panels every few days using self-cleaning robots which they guide remotely from their cellphones.”
Describing the scale of the project, Emergent Energy programme manager Roedolph Venter said it had taken 11 superlink trucks to deliver the solar panels to the site.
We also have a two-person team that will clean the panels every few days using self-cleaning robots which they guide remotely from their cellphones.
The Coega Development Corporation had played an important role in assisting Emergent Energy to benefit the local economy.
“They helped us to access local equipment needed to build and anchor the solar plant and to recruit local labour, who we were able to upskill on the job.”
Huawei South Africa vice-president Tom Zhao, whose company supplied the transformers and inverters needed to convert the solar energy to electricity, said he was impressed with the project.
“It will contribute to reducing carbon emissions and reducing electricity costs. We are here to support you, and we look forward to the next phase as you continue on this journey.”
Coega Steels director Amit Saini said with just under 8MWp of installed solar, the company was now supplying 7% of the 140-million kWh it required to operate.
“We are aiming to expand production, and for that we will need a total of 180-million kWh.
“In line with that, we are planning to install a further 20MWp of solar PV, so we will then have 20% of our electricity requirements supplied by solar.”
He said the plant currently exports the billets it produces to a number of African countries.
“After the production expansion is completed in the second quarter of 2026, we will be producing finished products, including rebars [reinforcing rods], angles, squares, rounds and flat bars for the South African market.”
He said even with the new solar project coming online, Coega Steels would still need to use the transformer leased to it in September by Bay mayor Babalwa Lobishe.
The lease was signed after the company’s own transformer failed, bringing production to a halt and threatening the jobs of the 580 people employed at the plant.
The matter has gone to court, with the municipality arguing the lease must be annulled, as the mayor did not follow correct protocol in making the transformer, a R25m public asset, available to a private company.
Saini said the lease extended to September.
“However, we have ordered two new transformers, and they will probably arrive before the lease expires.”
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