Page 32 - Energize November 2022

VIEWS AND OPINION

A plain man’s view on establishing renewable

energy system manufacture in South Africa

et me stress that this is the plain mans’ view and will not could have been artificially low, and the real cost of imports
contain or refer to complex financial or technical studies. was not considered (job losses, loss of security, etc.).
LNeither will it refer to perceived trends, market analysis, or The DoE has recently announced an increase in the amount
projections, and readers expecting such things are likely to be of utility scale renewable energy in the next window of the
disappointed. REIPPPP; the allowable limit for private generation has been
A new term has appeared in the energy industry, namely raised to 100 MW. If SA is to proceed with an accelerated
energy sovereignty. While the meaning of this term is very transition to clean energy, there is a case to establish local
flexible, it can be seen as the measure to which a country or manufacturing, even if the price turns out to be higher, and
a people have control over their electricity, ie the ability to allow our economy to benefit from this boom, rather than that
generate electricity independently. SA has a high degree of of some other country.
electricity sovereignty as the fuel for the power stations is The main objection to this move is the perception that
obtained locally. locally produced plant will cost more and thus decrease the
The wild rush by western countries to convert to cleaner competitiveness of renewable energy. Perhaps we should
or greener energy sources resulted in a shift to gas and adopt the attitude that the local price is the realistic one and
renewables as an interim energy source, but without a not be fooled by what amounts to unsustainable import prices.
development or utilisation of local gas resources, or the With the western world scrambling to re-establish their local
establishment of additional firm power sources, a move that renewable energy manufacturing industry, it is a good time
left much of the western world dependant on imported gas for South Africa to look at the viability and desirability of
and renewable sources such as wind and solar power. Political establishing solar PV and wind turbine manufacturing facilities
developments have left the west with a shortage of gas, and in this country.
the inconvenient realisation that virtually all solar PV products
come from a single far eastern source. Solar PV
In the past there were a number of PV manufacturers SA has an indigenous CIGSSe-based thin film solar PV product,
serving the European and American markets, with spin-offs which has never reached market, and has a complex history.
finding their way to Africa. Siemens was at one stage a major Developed by Prof. Vivien Alberts from UJ, the intellectual
manufacturer of silicon PV cells, as were other companies rights to the product and the manufacturing process are now
such as Bosch. All have disappeared or withdrawn from the held by Photovoltaic Technology Intellectual Property (PtiP),
market. This situation was brought about by choosing the a company established in 2015 to develop and market the
lowest purchase price as the criterion for selection of systems product and manufacturing process, and Singulus JV, a German
and components, allowing low-cost imports to totally dominate company.
markets, and leading to the demise of locally-manufacturing A demonstration plant was established in Stellenbosch in
companies, amidst persistent allegations of dumping or state 2015 to allow development and promote the product and the
subsidisation of manufacture. manufacturing process, and at that stage the claim was made
The crisis was brought to a head with silicon shortages that manufacture of high-quality modules, with 85% local
and price increases, both in the semiconductor and solar PV content, at internationally competitive prices was possible,
industries, forcing western countries to face the fact that there and a local plant with a capacity of 200 to 300 MW p/a was
are no silicon production facilities in the west, and with the envisaged. PTiP appears to be in business rescue, but the
exception of a few thin film producers, there are no PV cell technology is still available. Prof. Alberts is no longer with PTiP
manufacturers either (thin film does not use silicon). The price and is working for a Middle Eastern power company.
of solar PV has increased significantly in the last two years,
bucking the previous belief based on trendlines on a piece of Panel assembly
paper, that prices would continue decreasing. Many future There is no facility producing silicon wafers in South Africa, but
planning scenarios (including the IRP) were based on this there are two companies assembling solar panels using largely
unfounded assumption. imported components such as the PV wafers, encapsulants,
There is a need to carefully look at the total cost of relying etc., with a small percentage of locally made components.
on imports for what amounts to mission critical systems. Prices These are Art Solar, with a capacity of 300 MW/annum, and

energize | November 2022 | 32