In a continent where millions of people have no access to the electricity grid or simply cannot afford to pay for electricity, small-scale energy options can have a huge impact in improving the quality of people’s lives. They also play an important role in combatting climate change. Last week the UK-based Ashden Awards gave prizes to two African energy projects that are inspiring examples of how local sustainable energy can make a difference.
The renewable energy feed-in tariffs announced by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) yesterday appear to have been well received by industry players. This means that we can look forward to some alternatives to coal and nuclear in the near future.
Eskom is looking to the World Bank to help fund a proposed R6-billion, 100MW solar thermal power plant, Reuters reports. The power utility could make the decision to build the plant, which will provide baseload electricity, later this year. Eskom’s climate change and sustainability manager Mandy Rambharos said the plant could be built within 18 months and would be piloted for two years after that.
The department of minerals and energy is developing a climate change strategy for the energy sector, which should be completed by the end of September, Bulyelwa Sonjica, the minister of minerals and energy said at the Climate Change Summit 2009. The strategy will assess climate change mitigation measures for the energy sector and consider technological opportunities in energy efficiency, renewable energy and carbon capture and storage.
Two telecommunications companies, Ericsson and Orange Guinea Conakry are deploying more than 100 fully solar-powered base stations to bring mobile communications to rural off-grid areas in Africa.
The big news of this week is, of course, the inauguration of President Barack Obama and all the hope that brings for people concerned about the state of the planet. Renewable energy is getting a boost here in SA, too, with news of multimillion-rand investments in two solar water heating companies.
