Some of the leading car manufacturers in South Africa are looking to alternate power supplies – including solar power – as the country continues to grapple with load shedding.
At least one manufacturer told “The Mercury” that the additional costs brought on by seeking alternate electricity sources was having an impact on business.
Deon Sonnekus, general manager: corporate communications Hyundai Automotive South Africa, said that like other manufacturers of vehicles in the country, they were also suffering from the impact of continuous power cuts.
“Although our local assembly operation of the H-100 (bakkie) and the EX8 medium commercial truck in Benoni is a smaller operation than some original equipment manufacturers in South Africa, it (load shedding) has had an impact on the flow of work, and it has forced the company to make provision for the impact that it has on operations. This includes the use of electrical power generators.”
Sonnekus added that they had installed solar panels at their head office in Bedfordview and parts distribution centre in Germiston. He said these measures brought added costs to the business.
“Hyundai Automotive SA has also installed panels to use solar power at many of the dealerships in its network. When needed, electricity generators are also employed at the head office and at dealerships. All these contingency measures bring with it a huge cost factor, which reduces profits and income. It also curtails growth of the business, which is a negative factor for employment growth. A decrease of car sales is another consequence of load shedding – which is experienced by the whole automotive industry in South Africa.”
Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) marketing and corporate communications manager Lelo Ndzimela said while TSAM manages production at its Prospecton Plant in Durban during load shedding as an internal matter, it was constantly looking into various alternative sources of energy.
She said that TSAM had already invested in solar power in parts of their operations between Johannesburg and Durban.
Ndzimela added that TSAM also believed in the creation of a full portfolio of carbon-reducing initiatives including in the production process, as well as the entire value chain system in the automotive business.
“Toyota has committed to reducing carbon emissions – from both vehicles and operations – and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.”
Ford SA’s corporate communications manager Duduzile Nxele said that the Silverton Vehicle Assembly plant in Pretoria was protected from load shedding as a heavy industry manufacturer, however the Struandale Engine plant was affected by load shedding from stage 5 onwards.
“The impact of load shedding is far reaching and impacts our employees, customers, dealers, suppliers and partners. Ford is continuously working to minimise its reliance on the grid and make progress in our vision to develop integrated renewable energy solutions.”
Nxele added that more than 30 000 solar panels had been installed to build solar photovoltaic carports for 3 610 vehicles at its Silverton Assembly Plant.
“This supplies 13.5 MW of electricity, covering approximately 35% of the Silverton plant’s requirements. Going forward we will continue to monitor the situation and look for opportunities to mitigate against potential risks.”
Thato Mntambo, general manager for corporate affairs for Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA), said that it operated as part of a complex global production-network and needed to be fully functional.
“To this effect, MBSA had several measures in place to contain its electricity usage during supply constraint periods when the grid was under pressure to help the municipality regulate and continue with its supply. In addition, Mercedes-Benz and its suppliers have instituted a range of energy conservation initiatives, even when there is no load shedding scheduled.”
Volkswagen SA spokesperson, Andile Dlamini told “The Mercury’s sister newspaper ”Cape Argus“ recently that its manufacturing plant in Kariega, in the Eastern Cape has been forced to install generators in 2024 to mitigate the risk and disruption of load shedding to production
“We are using car carrier trucks instead of trains to move new vehicles from Kariega to our Gauteng dealers. We are bringing some of our production parts via airfreight to meet the production requirements due to delays of container cargo at the ports.”
The Mercury