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Africa & Middle East / Industrial & mining

Zwartkop Chrome Mine Microgrid

Organizations, planners, suppliers, equipment, controls, and reported system specifications—with source-level citations.

CoverageDetailed public record
Named organizations6
System facts13
Sources reviewed3
Last researched2026-07-19

The Thabazimbi chrome-mine hybrid power plant couples a 1 MW photovoltaic field to two 800 kVA diesel generators. SMA's official project sheet identifies all 63 inverter units, the Fuel Save Controller, nominal inverter capacity, planner/EPC entities, commissioning date, and expected annual generation.

Research status
Commissioned in November 2012; present mine operating status not independently confirmed
Historical classification
Mining
Reported capacity
2,600 kW
Coordinates
-24.58284, 27.40277
Evidence note: “Every company” cannot be proven from public material alone. This page lists every organization found in the recovered record and reviewed sources, preserves unknown roles, and explicitly marks undisclosed controller or equipment details.
Report missing evidenceResearch methodology

Project delivery

Who was involved in Zwartkop Chrome Mine Microgrid?

6 publicly identified organizations. Where a recovered source named a participant without explaining its work, the role remains explicitly unspecified.

Organization

Cronimet

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

Cronimet Chrome Mining SA (Pty) Ltd.

Mine and hybrid-power-system operator [2][3]

Organization

SMA

Publicly named participant; role not specified in the recovered record [1]

Organization

SMA Solar Technology

PV inverter and Fuel Save Controller supplier [2][3]

Organization

Solea AG

Project planning and realization [2]

Organization

Solea Renewables (Pty) Ltd.

South African project planning and realization partner [2]

System evidence

Reported capacity and specifications

Values can describe different project phases or components. Source citations are attached to each figure so discrepancies remain visible.

KW Solar
1000 [1]
KW Gas/Diesel
1600 [1]
Solar PV
1 MW [2]
PV inverter fleet
63 Sunny Tripower 17000TL units; 1,071 kVA nominal aggregate [2]
Diesel generation
Two 800 kVA generators [2]
Expected solar generation
Up to 1.8 GWh per year [2][3]
Expected diesel reduction
Up to 450,000 litres per year [3]

Controls and hardware

Equipment and controller details

Manufacturer and model are shown only when a source names them. Generic descriptions are not converted into guessed product assignments.

01

PV inverters

SMA Solar Technology — Sunny Tripower 17000TL

63 units with 1,071 kVA aggregate nominal capacity. [2]

02

Hybrid controller

SMA Solar Technology — Fuel Save Controller

One controller balances PV output against mine load and diesel operating requirements. [2]

03

Diesel generators

Model not publicly disclosed

Two 800 kVA units; manufacturer and genset model are not disclosed in SMA's project sheet. [2]

Recovered detail

Additional technical notes

Concise system facts recovered from the historical project record. Treat these as historical unless a newer primary source confirms them.

  • Generation

     Inverter: 63 STP 17000 + FSC1 [1]

  • Control objective

    The Fuel Save Controller supervises renewable penetration while maintaining the operating reserve and stability requirements of the isolated diesel grid. [2]

  • Disclosure gap

    The reviewed official sources do not name PV modules, diesel genset models, communications protocols, protection relays, or switchgear. [2][3]

Provenance

3 sources

Primary owner, government, university, supplier, and engineering sources are preferred. Archived references preserve claims whose original pages moved or disappeared.

  1. [1]
    Recovered Microgrid Projects record

    Internet Archive · Archived source · captured 2020-07-06

  2. [2]
    Thabazimbi, South Africa: PV Diesel Hybrid System

    SMA Solar Technology · Primary source

  3. [3]
    Thabazimbi, South Africa

    SMA Solar Technology · Primary source

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