Western Cape Premier Helen Zille believes the province has made major progress towards becoming the leading renewable energy centre in South Africa and now houses much of the high level expertise and development capacity in this field.
Zille announced the Western Cape government’s intention of becoming the green economic hub of South Africa just over two years ago. The aim was to build a dynamic green economy, which offsets the costs and consequences of climate change with economic growth and job creation. Speaking during her state of the province address Zille announced that an estimated R20 billion has already been allocated to actual and planned investment in the Western Cape renewable energy sector. She pointed to the proposed establishment of a cleantech Special Economic Zone in Atlantis as an important achievement. During a recent media briefing the premier also pointed out a notable R220 million investment in the manufacture of wind turbine towers by Spanish company Gestamp as part of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP).“This trend will continue with the establishment of the South African Renewable Energy Technical Centre (SARATEC) at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) which will provide specialised training for the renewable energy sector. The Western Cape government, through is special purpose vehicle GreenCape, is providing support to this centre and the first student intake is expected next year,” Zille said during her speech.
The province’s government is investigating alternative, greener fuels, with natural gas being a key priority focus that complements our energy shift to renewables. It is also working with municipalities on smart grid technologies, to increase efficiencies in electricity distribution and revenues. “We remain committed to safeguarding our natural assets that are the bedrock of tourism and agriculture as well as certain manufacturing industries. The twin crises of electricity shortages and climate change have created many new entrepreneurial opportunities and we are positioning the Western Cape to make the fullest possible use of them,” said Zille.
