OVERVIEW
Energy The Atlantis Special Economic Zone is attracting greentech investors.
SECTOR INSIGHT The Koeberg nuclear plant’s steam generators are due for replacement.
Koeberg nuclear power station. Credit: Eskom
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he potential of renewable energy is being realised through the national independent power producer programme and there is a strong lobby to build a gas-toenergy plant in the province. 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 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. 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. In addition to trying to attract green investment into the province, the Western Cape is working for improved regulations related to small-scale embedded generation (SSEG). The City of Cape Town also wants to be able to rent out its infrastructure to a power producer who can supply a user via that infrastructure. This is known as “wheeling”. A start was made with the Darling wind farm, but more work needs to be done on the legislative framework. Much of this work is being done by a unit called the Sustainability Energy Markets within the Energy Directorate. Another area of WESTERN CAPE BUSINESS 2022
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focus for this group is to investigate energy use by lowincome households. President Ramaphosa’s announcement in 2021 that companies wanting to create power plants up to 100MW need no longer apply for licences will encourage and accelerate this trend. T h e We s t e r n C a p e i s lobbying hard for the national Depar tment of Energy to allow Saldanha Bay to be a site for a gas-to-power plant. If a gas plant is built at Saldanha, then it could be a catalyst for the use of gas in many other sectors such as manufacturing and residential. The early rounds of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Pro c u re m e n t Pro gr a m m e (REIPPPP) continue to produce regular dividends. In October 2020, another wind farm started commercial operations. The Paardekraal East Wind Farm, which is located about 80km north-east of Ceres, is in the Witzenberg Local Municipality. The 110MW project was constructed by the Concor and Conco Consortium, Siemens Gamesa Renewable
