Renewable energy body the South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) has applauded president Cyril Ramaphosa’s “unequivocal support of the energy sector’s transformation”.
The organisation was responding to Ramaphosa’s address on the budget vote last week, when he tabled a raft of measures to plug SA’s 6 000MW energy shortfall.
This, as the country continues to face electricity challenges which have seen embattled power utility Eskom implementing crippling bouts of load-shedding.
Amid the energy crisis, the president urged households and businesses to invest in solar energy.
Now, the renewables industry says it welcomes the presidency’s clarity of the various reforms.
The association points out the reforms and work under way will deliver a robust, competitive energy sector, with multiple generators competing to supply electricity at the lowest cost and selling power directly to customers, which will go a long way in supporting local business and South Africans individually.
“This is a historical moment in our country as we are recreating not only our energy generation sector, but providing stable foundations for economic growth that is in line with the National Development Plan, which sees 2030 as a time when South Africa will reduce its dependency on carbon,” comments Niveshen Govender, SAWEA CEO.
In a statement, SAWEA notes the president clearly outlined the work under way aimed at increasing the energy availability factor, and closing the electricity gap between generation and demand, which is the root cause of load-shedding.
These include ensuring projects from existing procurement programmes − including Bid Window 5 of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme − reach financial close and are connected to the grid as quickly as possible; accelerating private sector investment in generation capacity under 100MW; enabling Eskom to purchase surplus power from existing power producers; supporting municipalities to procure power independently; and encouraging households and businesses to invest in small-scale solar power installations and feed energy to the grid, among others.
“The interventions are in line with the renewable energy sector advocacy efforts. We believe this step change that we are experiencing will alleviate the impact of power disruptions and allow us to build back better. While these are ambitious interventions, strong leadership is required to move us forward,” adds Govender.
Meanwhile, the wind sector says it is excited by Cabinet’s approval of the appointment of Jacob Mbele as the new director-general (DG) for the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, as announced by minister Mondli Gungubele, last week.
“On behalf of its members, SAWEA welcomes Mr Mbele, who is currently a deputy DG for general programmes and projects at the department, noting he has been intimately involved with both the Integrated Resource Plan and the procurement of electricity from independent power producers for many years, and wishes him well on his journey to drive and support the energy transition in a fair and equitable manner,” says the association.
Share