On Tuesday, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde visited Taylor Technology, a Macassar-based business. His visit reflects the Western Cape government’s focus on being more energy resilient in 2023.
Taylor Technology is a company working on reducing the impact of loadshedding.
Winde was joined by former Eskom executive Alwie Lester, who is now part of the Western Cape Government team, and Kadri Nassiep, Executive Director of Energy for the City of Cape Town.
In his visit to Taylor Technology, Winde was able to see for himself how private sector businesses are functioning with the ongoing loadshedding.
It gave the premier a chance to engage with what the Western Cape government can do to foster a supportive environment for business owners and their employees.
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“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,” he continues.
Winde says that while 2022 was a year of recovery for the Western Cape, the government wants to further our economic recovery in 2023 and make it a year of hope and opportunity.
He acknowledges Energy Capital for the work they do in the renewable energy sector. Energy Capital is a business that has installed 280 solar panels at its premises so far in an effort to become more sustainable.
“I applaud our partners in the private sector for taking chances by setting up their business operations in our province, bringing with them economic and job opportunities, and for helping in our collective drive to become more energy resilient,” says Winde.
“This will take a mammoth effort; it is, however, one we are up to and committed to. 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,” he assures.
“I am very excited by the work that I am seeing in Saldanha Bay, Stellenbosch, 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.”
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Picture: News24