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Wind energy undervalued in SA

Sibahle Malinga
By Sibahle Malinga, ITWeb senior news journalist.
Johannesburg, 06 Nov 2015
The Windaba 2015 conference focused on the challenges facing SA's wind energy sector and the benefits of using wind energy.
The Windaba 2015 conference focused on the challenges facing SA's wind energy sector and the benefits of using wind energy.

The value of wind energy is still underrepresented in SA, despite the many successes of wind energy in recent years.

This is according to Mike Rossouw, independent adviser at the Department of Energy, who addressed delegates at a recent Windaba 2015 conference in Cape Town.

The event focused on the challenges and the future of SA's growing wind energy sector. Rossouw said South Africans have been utilising the power of the wind for centuries through the use of windmills, with some choosing to power their entire homes or businesses on wind energy.

Despite this, he says, the industry still has more work to do in educating the public about the benefits of using wind energy. The widespread benefits of wind energy include the huge savings of our scarce resource, water that is made possible by renewable energy.

Heather Sonn, chair of the South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA), said the country, through the national development plan, delivers sustainable development from the ground up.

"With more than 400 wind turbines spinning across the country, 13 wind farms totalling 953MW are feeding desperately needed power to our ailing electricity grid. All of these developments have been built through private investment, costing the taxpayer nothing."

She added: "This makes it possible for local communities to benefit from renewables, with an average shareholding of 10.5% in renewable projects."

Karen Breytenbach, head of the Independent Power Producers (IPP), shared some statistics which indicate the widespread benefits of wind energy. "For each kilowatt hour of renewable energy that displaces fossil fuels in the national grid, 1.2 litres of water will be saved. A full operation of the entire portfolio of the programme will save 52 million litres of water per annum".

She added that concerns over the availability of wind energy could be put to rest because out of wind energy's overall contribution to electricity generation, 15% of that has come during peak hours over the last six months.

Currently there are 92 energy conservation projects selected as part of the Department of Energy's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement programme (REIPPPP), which have attracted R193 billion in private sector investment.

Other interesting facts shared about the benefits of wind energy include:

* Wind power is a free and renewable source of energy. Unlike fossil fuels such as coal and oil, which must be extracted from the earth at great environmental cost, wind turbines generate a large supply of kinetic energy in the form of wind.

* Wind farm development is an excellent source of local jobs, from construction to maintenance and upkeep.

* Wind power provides steady and significant revenue to rural landowners, farmers, and communities. Wind turbines occupy little surface area, leaving land open for farming, housing, and other uses.

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