Collaboration could end dark days
Energy Minister, Tina Joemat-Petterson announced June 10 that Private sector and the department will cooperate in creating renewable energy projects and this will have a positive impact on socioeconomic growth and the the national grid.
ALBERTON- Minister of Energy, Tina Joemat-Petterson announced on June 10, that the private sector and the department will further cooperate in creating renewable energy projects, and that this will have a positive impact on the national energy grid.
The Minister named 13 extra preferred bidders for the renewable energy independent power producer procurement programme.
The government added that the bidders would supply an extra 1 084 megawatts of power to support the national grid, and plug the power shortage due to Eskom’s troubles, but also move to a greener energy supply.
The additional bidders include wind and solar energy plants such as Garob Wind Farm (136MW), Kangnas (137MW), and Copperton Wind Farm (102MW),
Joemat-Petterson added that R19,1-billion has been committed to socio-economic development and this is to be spent over the next 20-year life span of the project.
Public-private partnerships in renewable energy have seen the contribution of an extra 6 327MW of capacity to the national electricity grid since 2011 and 92 renewable-energy projects have been approved by the Department of Energy to date.
Medupi and Kusile, which are coal-fired power stations, will be completed only by 2021 and are forecast to add a total of more than 9 000MW to the country’s electricity grid.
Ompi Aphane, from the energy department, said: “This is a clear message that we will overcome challenges by standing together.
”South Africa is moving towards providing sustainable energy solutions and we believe it will position the country as a global player for alternative solutions.”
Marian Glazerson, an architect, stresses that better design will go a long way to reducing electricity usage.
“We have a lot of sunlight and it’s free; we should use it in our designs,” she said.
”I heard a gentleman speaking a while ago, saying that building a solar plant in the Karoo will be more effective than generating power through wind technology.
”All this talk on using architecture to generate heat and shade is nothing new, we were already teaching it at university in the ’70s.”
