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
                       th
            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
                               th
        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.
        responders: We depend on, appreciate and  Cummins ranked second in the automotive and components category behind General Motors, which
                                                    th
        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.
        corporations also step up. They care about  Newsweek’s designation is the second major ranking Cummins has received recently. Earlier the
        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
        market and consumer research and data. The  Contact Tanya Cairns, Cummins Africa Middle East ABO, Tel 011 450-3400,
        analysis was carried out in a four­step process,  tanya.cairns@cummins.com


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