Energy

Green business is blooming in the Western Cape.

The Western Cape is positioning itself as a green business hub and is working to find energy alternatives for households and businesses.

GreenCape claims that nearly R700-million in green technology investments have already been attracted to the Atlantis Special Economic Zone, creating 300 jobs. A further R3.7-billion is anticipated by 2030, which will add more than 3 000 new jobs. Spanish wind tower manufacturer Gestamp Renewable Industries and tower internals supplier Resolux (from Denmark) are early investors in the zone.

GreenCape is an agency that does research and runs projects in areas such as energy efficiency, waste, water and sustainable agriculture. It is a joint initiative of the City of Cape Town, Wesgro and the Provincial Government of the Western Cape. The Western Cape Industrial Symbiosis Programme (WISP), which encouraged manufacturers to use the waste product of other businesses, won international recognition in 2018 at the Circular Awards at Davos.

Of the projects committed to under the national Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme Sector Insight Solar PV usage has increased to 112MW.

(REIPPPP), 14 are located in the Western Cape (eight wind, five solar, one biomass). Cape Town is home to 70% of South Africa’s manufacturers of renewable components.

Among the many changes that followed President Zuma standing down as president in 2018, the REIPPPP was rebooted. In April 2018, newly appointed Energy Minister Jeff Rabebe restarted the programme when he signed off on projects

totalling R56-billion that will add 2 300MW to the national grid. Most of South Africa’s electricity comes from coal and national utility Eskom is building two huge coal-fired power stations.

Radebe also announced that small-scale renewable energy projects (up to 10MW) could receive licences from the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa). This will mostly apply to manufacturers that produce biomass (such as forestry and sugar producers) and mining companies but also plays into the stated policy of the Western Cape provincial administration to promote independent producers (IPs). A court case is pending in which the provincial government is trying to win the right for its municipalities to buy directly from IPs instead of having to buy all power from Eskom.

Unreliable and expensive power is a massive constraint on business and provincial and city governments in the Western Cape are champing at the bit to be allowed more freedom to participate in the sector.

The idea of home-owners being able to sell surplus electricity from rooftop solar systems was previously restricted to the Cape metropolitan area. The application of the provincial government’s Energy Security Game Changer has expanded this provision (via bylaws) to the whole province. There are 19 municipalities where rooftop solar PVs are connected to the electricity grid, 13 of which have nationally approved tariffs in place. Users in the 13 areas can be paid for the power they suppy. The uptake of solar has risen from 20MW in 2015 to more than 112MW in 2019.

The City of Cape Town has signed an agreement with the United States Agency for International Development and the Southern Africa Energy Programme to look for ways to make solar PV more accessible. High costs of installation often preclude residents from taking the solar PV option for their homes.

In September 2018 the City of Cape Town launched a resilience assessment, the first step in a larger process. The Rockefeller Foundation chose the city in 2016 as one of 100 around the world in which programmes would be tested to improve the ability of the city to withstand shocks such as severe droughts. The city wants to expand the lessons it learnt in the period of water shortage into other areas such as energy generation and energy efficiency. Former MP Gareth Morgan is Cape Town’s Director of Resilience.

Online Resources

Atlantis Special Economic Zone: www.investcapetown.com GreenCape: www.greencape.co.za South African Renewable Energy Business Incubator: www.sarebi.co.za South African Renewable Energy Council: www.sarec.org.za South African Renewable Energy Technology Centre: www.saretec.org.za South African Wind Energy Association: www.sawea.org.za

The Western Cape Provincial Government is also investing in resilience. A market intelligence report covering energy, renewable energy, water and waste was created by GreenCape to map the assets and challenges in these areas.

The Cape Peninsula University of Technology’s Energy Institute is a leader in research in the field of electricity, and is also responsible for a regional publication relating to domestic use, DUE.

The South African Renewable Technology Centre (SARETEC) on the Bellville campus of CPUT offers courses such as Wind Turbine Service Technician and Solar Photovoltaic Service Technician and various short courses such as Bolting Joint Technology.

The Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies is at the University of Stellenbosch and the University of Cape Town has the Energy Research Centre. The University of the Western Cape is doing research on the possibilities of hydrogen as an energy source.

The South African Energy Business Incubator (Sarebi), based in Atlantis, has assisted 190 entrepreneurs in the energy and resource efficiency fields.

A wave-energy project is underway at Hermanus. Funding for the project is coming from the aquaculture company that will receive power from the 1MW plant, Abagold, the Industrial Development Corporation and EEP Africa, a specialist in clean energy funding. ■

Africa Biomass Company

Your caring family trading as world leaders in the wood chipping industry.

Our mission

been at the forefront of the development of biomass processing such as wood chips, biofuels and more in Southern Africa. Under the mentorship of Johan du Preez, the co-owner of Môreson Grondverskuivers, known for service excellence in the agricultural industry since 1924, we established ourselves as market leaders of recycling agricultural wood waste over the past 10 years.

Africa Biomass Company offers a viable, costeffective solution for our customers to recycle this unwanted woody biomass into usable forms.

Towards the end of 2008, the need and demand for the chipping of orchards increased to such an extent that the strategy of hand-fed chippers was switched to that of horizontal grinders, fed by a mechanical loader.

In collaboration with Môreson Grondverskuivers, we now offer a full range of services. Our vision Africa Biomass Company is your caring family, founded in faith, trading as world leaders in the recycling industry. To provide a worldwide service and infrastructure that is sustainable and above par, taking into account the unique requirements of each client, without deviating from our policy of innovative service and high ethical standards. Company Slogan

Since 2004, Africa Biomass Company has

Our values

Human dignity; Integrity; Quality; Pro-trademark resolution; Innovation; Transparency; Individualism

Africa Biomass Company services and products

Contracting

Orchard

Windbreak recycling

River rehabilitation

Recycling of waste wood

Tree (orchard) replanting (Eastern Cape)

Mulch spreading

Land clearing and land preparation (Môreson)

Woodchip mulch and biomass sales

Bandit agency (Southern Africa)

Dezzi equipment (Western Cape)

Workshop and field services

Part sales

Manufacturing

Accredited Operator Training Facility

Orchard and windbreak recycling With the use of excavators with specialised attachments and three-wheel loggers, old orchards can be removed from root to top and fed into a horizontal grinder.

Processing of waste wood into a viable product, that if applied correctly, could have a

30% increase in water conservation as well as many other advantages.

Land clearing services Africa Biomass Company is an expert at land clearing. We have an extensive range of highly specialised wood recycling machinery that will do the job quickly and efficiently. • Tree shears which cut and stack trees of up to 550mm in diameter • Loggers to handle the timber rapidly and effectively. • Well-trained teams of chainsaw operators.

Mulch and biofuel sales Woodchip according to specification, collected in mass trailers or in bags and transported to end user, where it can be used as woochip mulch or biofuel.

Massive water savings In 2017 Africa Biomass Company was involved in many projects such as the removal of invasive eucalyptus trees in the Breede River and Berg River systems.

The removal and recycling of these alien trees, old or unwanted orchards, vineyards or windbreaks can be used as mulch which are spread in new and old orchards and vineyards. This has led to a massive water saving equal to the water usage of 50 000 households for one year.

CONTACT INFO

Physical address: 2 – 4 Joubert Street, Worcester 6850, Western Cape, South Africa Postal address: PO Box 1322, Worcester 6849 Tel: +27 23 342 1212 • Fax: 086 515 5777 Website: www.abc.co.za

Willem van der Merwe, CEO: willem@abc.co.za Workshop and field services With an intimate understanding of the operational challenges of wood recycling in South Africa, we established state-of-the-art facilities to service, repair and rebuild wood chipping equipment of any make and size.

An equally remarkable team of field service technicians delivers repairs, maintenance and spares to your site to optimise uptime and efficiency.

Parts We have been widely commended as the company in South Africa stocking the largest range of industryrelated spare parts.

Optimal production and uptime require quality components when needed. Understanding the industry through experience sets us apart from other suppliers.

Delivering quality components on time is essential for running a successful operation. Our more than 2 500 line items is made up of quality components sourced worldwide to meet requirements of our customers and our own fleet.

Manufacturing Our legacy of innovation has been built on more than 80 000 hours of operational experience. This enabled us to develop and adapt machines for waste wood recycling in South Africa which truly adds value to the customer’s operation.

A wide range of wood chipping, grinding and spreading equipment is manufactured locally to specification, as required for South African conditions.

Calie Rabie, Western Cape Production: 072 602 4543 Fanie Fourie, Eastern Cape Production: 073 402 0655 Riaan Carstens, Bandit Agency: 079 874 8624 Quintis Wiid, Parts and Workshop: 066 475 7039