Beefing up South Africa’s renewable energy sector is a major priority for the Electricity and Energy Minister, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa. Picture: Jacques Naude/Independent Newspapers
Electricity and Energy Minister, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said that South Africa is determined to be “ultra-aggressive” in on-boarding renewable energy sources.
The minister made these comments on Monday during the Ministerial Renewable Energy Seminar held in Midrand.
Ramokgopa told delegates that it is in South Africa’s best interest to accelerate its renewable energy programme.
“We must be ultra-aggressive in the on-boarding of renewables. It must be on steroids. But we can only achieve that if we resolve the issues. I think the future is renewables,” Ramokgopa said.
“We must resolve the issues of permitting and licensing, and the speed because capital has got choices. It’s not like the capital is waiting and waiting for South Africa to resolve its problems. It is in our interest to ensure that we are greedy in how we want to consume this capital and that greed will be displayed in the manner and the enthusiasm with which we are resolving the major impediments in this instance,” the minister said.
Ramokgopa said that it was imperative that SA tries to “capture all these opportunities for the greater good of the region.”
He further emphasised that in order to build a strong renewable energy sector, government and South Africans must build confidence in the system.
“We are going to be a bit more aggressive in on-boarding renewables, but I think that statement is hollow if we are not able to address the attendant challenges, and the inherent weaknesses in the system,” Ramokgopa explained.
“We must build confidence in the system going into the future, firstly, by illustrating our ability to resolve the challenges that have afflicted the previous bid windows.
“Being aggressive means going out to procure the megawatts that are of a scale and proportion that we have not done before. But if we have not resolved the inherent challenges, that statement will be put to waste because we will not be able to achieve that which we desire. So it’s important that we have that conversation,” he said.
Ramokgopa also said that it was vital for the department to improve South Africa’s Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (IPPPP).
“We are here to listen on how best we can improve. Once we have listened, we will (take) action. We really want (the) industry to thrive for us to make South Africa the preferred destination for this capital (and) for us to run the most ambitious and successful of all renewable programmes from a public procurement point of view,” he concluded.
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