SPECIAL FOCUS
NEVER MIND THE CRIPPLING LOSS TO THE
INDIVIDUALS AND COMPANIES INVOLVED, THIS
INACTIVITY IS HOBBLING GOVERNMENT’S
ABILITY TO MEET ITS OWN GOALS.
appealing, because they provide the energy
without needing to be connected back into
the system. “If our goal is for renewable
solutions to deliver power to low-income
houses, solar water heating is the lowhanging fruit,” he says.
General Manager of Group Customer
Services at Eskom.
He adds that other power-saving
programmes need to be introduced,
including LED lighting, the installation of
ceilings and ceiling installation, and large
propane gas (LPG) stove roll-outs.
At the same time, the utility-scale
renewable energy projects (including large
scale wind and solar farms) that could
have a hope of delivering energy into the
grid and ultimately to low-cost housing,
are also encountering stumbling blocks.
After two extremely successful phases of
the government’s utility-scale programme,
projects in the third phase are struggling to
get to financial close, largely due to Eskom
not being able to guarantee connections
to the grid. “Some developers are actually
opting for building their own substations,”
says Forder.
He explains that this makes rooftop solar
thermal power implementations even more
IS HUMAN SETTLEMENTS THE SOLUTION?
While the future of the industry that
provides solar water heating to low-cost
housing is looking rather bleak, Green says
that a solution may present itself in the form
of the Department of Human Settlements,
a government department dedicated to the
holistic delivery of housing to low-income
South Africans. They have a target of
delivering 1.5 million homes in the next
five years.
“Human Settlements are receptive to
meeting the Green Economy Accord
requirements and building regulations
by going energy efficient,” Green says.
“Hypothetically, they could access a
different budget by stating that all
low-income houses must have a solar
geyser that meets certain criteria.”
Williams agrees that this could make all
the difference: “If Human Settlements could
take over the new developments on the
cards, they could see that each house is fitted
with a solar water geyser.”
While there are potential solutions and
good intentions, for the time being, the
whole low-cost solar water heater industry
is in limbo. And since the desire to meet
goals for power reduction and getting hot
water to low-income citizens haven’t proven
to be motivation enough for government,
it’s unclear what will motivate them to act to
resolve this mess.
City of Johannesburg’s
green bond
The City of Johannesburg is the first
municipality to list a green bond on the
Johannesburg Securities Exchange.
The R1.46-billion bond will raise money
to finance green initiatives, such as the
Bio Gas to Energy Project and the
Solar Geyser Initiative, as well as
other projects that reduce greenhouse
emissions and contribute to a resilient
and sustainable city.
“This is the first green bond to be
listed in the 2013/2014 financial year
and marks a historic occasion, as Joburg
is the first city in the C40 Cities Climate
Leadership Group to issue the green
bond,” said Mayor Parks Tau. “This clearly
demonstrates investor confidence in the
City of Johannesburg and commitment to
environmental stewardship and climate
change, while receiving a market-related
financial return.”
Of course, the proof of the funding is
in the implementation. “The reality in the
socio-economic uplift programmes is
that there is a local industry which has
the capacity to build 50 000 units per
month, but all the factories are mothballed
because of the technical drafting error,”
says James Green. “That having been
said, all holistic and incentive programmes
will contribute towards a more energy
efficient South Africa. It is a question of
getting the message out there.”
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