Eskom, Saretec partnership ‘a good step in the right direction’

Eskom’s collaboration with the South African Renewable Energy Technology Centre (Saretec) to develop renewable energy artisan skills will not only end the electricity crisis in the country, but also spur SA’s post-pandemic economy and create much-needed jobs while tackling climate change.

Energy expert Anton Eberhard said Saretec was a renewable energy training initiative at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) which has focused on skills development for years.

“Eskom is seeking a just transition as it closes its old coal power stations. Komati is the first,” Eberhard said.

“This is one initiative around reskilling of coal workers, positioning them to participate in renewable energy, which is the future.”

An interim internal Eskom skills audit report this month, which focused on the power utility’s generation department, showed competency gaps, which confirmed that the power utility was facing a major skills crisis in critical technical areas, impacting on the operation of power stations.

However, the power utility announced its partnership with Saretec after signing a memorandum of agreement to formalise their collaboration to develop renewable energy artisan skills in SA and support the implementation of the Eskom Just Energy Transition (JET) strategy.

“As an initiative of the department of higher education and training through the National Skills Fund, Saretec was established as the first national renewable energy technology centre and is managed by the CPUT,” said Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha.

“Saretec expedites specialised industry-related and accredited training for the entire renewable energy industry, including short courses and workshops.”

Mantshantsha also said the objective of the collaboration was to educate, reskill and upskill Eskom Komati power station staff and qualifying beneficiaries from the surrounding communities in the Mpumalanga region.

“This is in line with Eskom’s Just Energy Transition drive and Saretec’s vision to ensure a pipeline of local skills responding to economic needs and readiness for the inevitable transition,” Mantshantsha added.

According to the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, quoting the 2020 study by Theodoros Arvanitopoulos and Paolo Agnolucci at the University of East Anglia, the adoption of renewable electricity will lead to 150 000 more jobs by 2030 in the UK.

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Arvanitopoulos said the longterm employment impact of renewable technologies was much higher than the impact arising from deploying nuclear or natural gas technologies.

“With an average of about 55 000 jobs a year, depending on the types of energy mix that is delivering decarbonisation,” the study read.

“Seventy-five percent of the jobs created by the deployment of renewable energy are sustainable in the long term.”

Another energy expert, Clyde Mallinson, agreed with the report and said while the issue of employment from the collaboration was “too complex”, the partnership was “a good first step in the right direction”.

“The skill set required by Eskom technical personnel will in future be very different from the current skill set, especially when it comes to power generation,” Mallinson added.

Meanwhile, Mantshantsha said given the accelerated global movement towards investment in a clean energy transition, there is a need in South Africa to upskill, retrain and develop a workforce to take full advantage of the opportunities presented by this transition.

“Moreover, the risk of job losses and redundancy due to the transition presents an opportunity to provide training and upskilling for new industries that can be scaled up as a result of the transition, particularly the renewables industry,” Mantshantsha said.

“Eskom and Saretec are committed to continue to partner with key stakeholders to ensure that the JET goals are met in an inclusive and collaborative manner drawing on the skills of all key role players.”

– reitumetsem@citizen.co.za