Page 12 - Energize February 2021
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NEWS
Wind industry welcomes Ramaphosa’s
commitment to renewable energy
By Ntombifuthi Ntuli, SAWEA
he South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) supports President Ramaphosa’s
commitment to South Africa’s renewable energy power procurement programme
T(REIPPPP) as stated in his recent State of the Nation Address (SONA).
The national President has actively prioritised the role of increasing new power generation
over the next five years, to close the current capacity gap that is crippling the country and
hampering sustainable economic activity in the form of rolling blackouts. This is of course a
situation made worse by the economic fallout of the current health pandemic.
He has further reiterated the importance of regaining investor confidence and has set a firm
target to fix the energy availability factor, by closing the 5000 MW capacity gap which will be
created by the closing of old coalfired power station over the next five years.
President Ramaphosa’s announcement of two bidding rounds, which will collectively
procure 2600 MW this year, alludes to the heady days when the Renewable Energy Independent
Power Producers Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) was kicked off, which resulted in SAWEA views this emergency procurement
substantial new wind power generation capacity in South Africa as well as attracting billions of round as can opportunity to create the
Rands in foreign and domestic investment. continuity of the industry as the
The Industry is reassured to receive such strong support from the President for a second construction of Round 4 projects is drawing
year running, as he acknowledged the key role that the country’s renewable industry has to play to a close this year.
in delivering power and supporting economic recovery, by closing the everincreasing electricity We commend the President for following
supply capacity gap. through with all the commitments he made
In addition to driving REIPPPP, by opening two new windows this year, the President has in his address; all the work that was done in
reminded us that we cannot lose sight of the threat that climate change poses to our the policy and regulatory space makes it
environmental health, socioeconomic development and economic growth and reaffirmed the possible for him to confidently announce the
commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which will be guided by the Presidential next bidding windows for renewables.
Coordinating Commission on Climate Change. Policy certainty and transparent
SAWEA strongly supports this reaffirmation and has stated once again that the wind power decisionmaking cannot be overstated as the
sector is ready to deliver on new projects that will increase the supply of clean power, thereby value of the leadership will drive the return
helping the country meet its commitments under the UN Framework Convention on Climate of investor confidence, both foreign and
Change and its Paris Agreement, of a net zero emissions target by 2050. domestic, at a time that the country
The backtoback bid windows, for continuous power procurement, will support local desperately needs to accelerate its
industrialisation efforts committed to by the wind power sector. This will deliver long term economic recovery. n
sustainable jobs and support a just energy transition.
Additionally, the sector looks forward to the announcement of preferred bidders for the Risk Send your comments to
Mitigation Power Procurement Programme, as wind projects were part of the bid submissions. rogerl@nowmedia.co.za
ummins, a leading power company, has Identified as one of America’s most
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been ranked 24 on Newsweek’s list of
CAmerica’s most responsible companies
for 2021. The list is based on publicly reported responsible companies for 2021
data for economic, social and governance
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performance. The company was 17 on the
magazine’s 2020 list of 400 companies. starting with a pool of over 2000 companies. The research also included an independent survey of
“Neighbours, family, friends, first over 7500 US residents regarding what they expect of responsible companies.
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hope to be helpful to each other,” said Nancy finished 12 in the overall rankings. Technology and software companies dominated the top five places on
Cooper, Global Editor in Chief. “Many the magazine’s list, led by HP. The full list was included in the magazine’s print edition of 6 December.
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being good citizens and give back to the company was named to the S&P Dow Jones Sustainability Indices for North America for a 15 th
communities they operate in.” consecutive year. The S&P Dow Jones Sustainability Indices is based on an exhaustive survey looking
Newsweek’s rankings are determined in at environmental, social and governance performance and strategy. n
partnership with Statista, a leading provider of
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