Making Western Cape more energy resilient to remain a top priority in 2023 – Winde

Premier Alan Winde says making the Western Cape more energy resilient will remain a top priority for his administration in 2023.

SA’s electricity crisis

Winde has assured Western Cape residents the provincial government will ensure there is more investment to mitigate the effects of load shedding by working together with the private sector.

Last year, South Africans experienced the worst year of load shedding on record, with businesses and households devastated by the rolling blackouts as Eskom struggled to keep the lights on.

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The country’s energy crisis is expected to persist further into 2023, with more load shedding stages on the cards.

Businesses fighting load shedding

Winde on Wednesday visited a Macassar-based business that is taking steps to lessen the impact of ongoing load shedding.

The premier was accompanied by former Eskom executive Alwie Lester, who has now joined the Western Cape government, and the executive director of energy at the City of Cape Town, Kadri Nassiep.

During his visit to Taylor Technology, Winde saw for himself how the private sector – particularly small to medium-sized businesses – are faring and what the provincial government can do to nurture an enabling environment for business owners and their employees.

He said making the province more energy resilient will be at the top of the agenda of his administration.

“We need to make sure there is more investment into and from the private sector to mitigate the devastating effects of load shedding.

“In 2022, we had 3 630 hours cumulative hours of load shedding in South Africa. Economic recovery and more importantly job creation cannot happen under these circumstances,” said Winde.

Economic recovery

The premier said 2022 was a year of recovery for the province following two years of lockdown restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said this year the province will push harder to further its economic recovery amid the ongoing energy crisis.

“The very successful festive season concluded the Western Cape’s year of recovery. But now at the beginning of 2023, we know that it will be a challenging year, but it is nonetheless a year of hope and opportunity for the Western Cape.”

Winde applauded another business, Energy Capital, for harnessing the potential of the renewable energy sector.

Energy Capital has so far installed 280 solar panels at Taylor Technology’s premises to help it become more resilient and sustainable.

“My government and I will be working closely with the private sector and municipalities across the province to ensure we create an enabling environment for energy resilience.

“I am very excited by the work that I am seeing in Saldanha Bay, Stellenbosch and George, and the City of Cape Town to bring more independent power producers (IPPs) on board and we will work closely with all provincial municipalities in 2023 to develop our energy resilience,” said Winde.

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