Billionaire Johann Rupert’s private power plant 

Billionaire businessman Johann Rupert built a private hydro-power plant on his farm, aiming to provide surplus electricity to the national grid. The R70 million, 2.3MW renewable energy small hydro-power plant on the Anthonij Rupert Wyne, L’Ormarins farm generates enough electricity to supply the farm’s needs and produce a surplus of 2MW.  

However, Rupert revealed that despite their efforts and signing a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Eskom, they have been unable to connect the power plant to the grid due to red tape and alleged corruption during the previous administration.  

The power plant has been connected to the grid for three years but remains unused. The details of the hydro-power plant include the involvement of I&F Engineering and ADM Engineers in its construction, the use of Ossberger turbine generators, and the capability to evacuate power at 11kV to the national power grid. 

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