S11 ATR March 2020 Altaaqa Alternative Solutions Global_ATR - New Master Template 2016 17/02/2020 16:10 Page 32
POWER | REPORT
Unlocking growth from SA’s wind power potential South Africa’s challenged energy sector is moving from coal-fired to clean energy sources over the next 10 years, with wind power playing a significant part in this important transition, boosting the job market in the process.
Image Credit: SAWEA
SA’s energy sector is poised to unlock economic growth and deliver thousands of new jobs, many of which will be created in the wind sector. Pictured: Noupoort Wind Farm.
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ransitioning from its coalpowered energy base to a much cleaner, greener future where renewables play a much greater role, is the aim set out in the South African Government’s 2019 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). And even while Stage 6, 4 and 2 power cuts have been costing the economy dear since December, setting sail for a greener economy through the IRP, not only maps out the energy mix for the next 10 years and envisions the nation’s electricity production capacity rising significantly by 2030,
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but also outlines increased allocations for renewables. Wind power leads the field with a projected future target contribution of 18 per cent from hydro-energy’s eight per cent and solar’s six.
AFRICAN REVIEW OF BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY | MARCH 2020
(Perhaps, with a renewable future, power cuts will, one day, become a distant memory). Back to the recent past, however, and referring to the fourth quarter of 2019 in the IRP, Minister of
The IRP underscores SA’s commitment to invest in renewable energy ” GWEDE MANTASHE, MINISTER OF MINERAL AND ENERGY RESOURCES
Mineral and Energy Resources, Gwede Mantashe, said renewable energy presents an opportunity to produce distributed power closer to where demand is and to provide offgrid electricity to remote areas adding, “The IRP underscores SA’s continued commitment to invest in renewable energy. A share of the new electricity generation capacity will come from renewables, including wind, thus, providing an opportunity for investment.” For the South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA), the IRP
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