The Western Cape Government (WCG) has assigned R7 billion to create an ‘ecosystem’ that would foster private sector investment in renewable power generation capacity in the province over the next three years.
Also read: Premier Alan Winde concerned about refurbishment delays at Koeberg
‘The massive opportunity we’ve got is the carbon footprint we have here…is going to change drastically. This crisis is going to be used to the absolute maximum,’ Western Cape Premier Alan Winde said during the inaugural Wesgro Business Outlook conference in Cape Town on Friday. ‘Never waste a crisis! We are definitely not wasting this crisis!’
One of the initiative’s key objectives is to reduce the carbon footprint of the Western Cape, which would also help reduce the country’s carbon footprint. According to Engineering News, this would shield its exports from the risk of restrictions placed on them by other nations due to South Africa’s reliance on coal-generated electricity, which emits greenhouse gases to create electricity.
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Winde also expressed his worry over the Koeberg nuclear power plant’s turbine maintenance delays. Because all of the other baseload electricity generation facilities in the nation are located in the north, if Koeberg’s two generating turbine systems had to go offline at the same time, it would have major implications for the province.
Cape Town has been on a lower loadshedding schedule than the rest of the country because of certain actions made years ago. Winde does, however, add that the province ought to have pushed for other energy sources.
The development of new renewable energy projects requires time, he added, saying that it may take up to two years to build a sizable solar energy facility and connect it to the power grid.
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Also read:
Cape Town’s draft energy strategy aims to end loadshedding for good
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