We welcome the announcement the provincial Department of Economic Development and Tourism (DEDAT) of the R13 million Western Cape Municipal Energy Resilience Fund as the next step in the Provincial Government’s plan to bring energy security to the province. This fund stands to financially assist qualifying municipalities in their research, planning and cost analysis for renewable energy projects, helping to bring the Western Cape into the green energy era.
In June, DEDAT published a request for information for both the private and public sector to provide information about renewable energy projects which could develop new generation capacity for the Western Cape. We are now pleased to note the enthusiasm of the renewable energy sector, given that the Department received over 100 submissions from across private and public organisations, some of which are based beyond the Western Cape itself. In total, 62 submissions have been found to be potentially viable and could see an additional 4 800MW’s worth of power brought online for the province in the next three years.
We are holding Premier Winde to account for his pledge at the State of the Province Address in February this year, where the Premier outlined that provincial government would support local municipalities in becoming energy secure and resilient. This Resilience Fund is tangible evidence that gives real meaning to the Premier’s promises, and more than that, it will go some way in seeing this province become the first to beat loadshedding. This is only possible because of the partnership between the Western Cape Government, local municipalities and the renewable energy private sector, further enabled by the new regulations gazetted by the national Department of Mineral Resources and Energy.
While Eskom remains an unstable supplier of energy, its slow move away from coal production, which is only envisioned for 2050, means that our export industry will experience higher import rates as the international community begins to place carbon emissions tax on imported products. To protect our industries and to support our environment, finding renewable energy projects is of critical importance. The Western Cape has the largest green sector in the country and has a dedicated Special Economic Zone in Atlantis which focus specifically on green products and energy.
We call on all eligible municipalities across the Western Cape to apply for the available funding, so that we can move closer to freeing ourselves from the burden of Eskom’s national mismanagement.
