Page 9 - IDC

CITY PRESS, 25 OCTOBER, 2015 13
news

A PROJECT
IN

PARTNERSHIP
WITH THE IDC renewable

IDC energy projects
in numbers

Number of alternative
independent power
producers in SA: 92

Combined
capacity:
6 327MW

How many the
IDC helped fund:
CLEAN AND NOT MEAN Pravin Semnarayan’s solar power plant in Rustenburg PHOTO: TEBOGO LETSIE 25 (or 27%)
Energy and how Combined capacity: 1 650MW

676MW is already online

the sun cleans up R14.7 billion
IDC investment:

Jobs: 109 000 jobs in construction
and operational phases since the
programme began in 2011

A new crop of South Africans are earning a living from the renewables revolution,

and the IDC is behind them all the way. Poloko Tau and Lubabalo Ngcukana report

here are no telltale smoke stacks or coal dumps at this SA in place for global business that 17% of the project was owned by locals. The funding from the IDC = 1 000
new power plant, which is tucked behind bushes and was used for procurement and the actual construction of the plant.
mine shafts outside Rustenburg in North West. “The IDC was there to assist us from the beginning to the end of the
From atop a mine dump, one can see 144 neatly Lizeka Matshekga, head of the industrial infrastructure unit at the Industrial project to ensure its successful construction, and today we have been Where the projects are
structured rows of tilted frames holding 29 808 solar Development Corporation (IDC), says it was a strategic imperative for the operational for more than two years. We have a 30-year supply
Tphotovoltaic panels that convert sunlight into enough corporation to become involved in the renewable energy sector, which is new in contract with Eskom.” Photovoltaic power plant
electricity to supply an average-sized township. South Africa and therefore seen to be relatively risky to fund. Semnarayan said although more jobs had been created
This is the RustMo1 Solar Farm – a photovoltaic power-generation The IDC’s strategic objectives are to support initiatives that during the plant’s construction phase, they now Concentrated solar power plant
plant developed by Momentous Energy with the help of a R108 million result in job creation, community participation through employed 30 full-time staff who lived in the
investment from the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). ownership in projects and economic growth through the surrounding areas. Wind power plant
Built on a 19-hectare farm along the N4 next to a disused platinum establishment of manufacturing facilities. One of them is Asanda Marawana. She works
mine processing plant in “We’re a government-owned development finance as a security controller and this is her first Hydroelectric power plant
Marikana, the power plant RustMo1 solar farm institution with a high appetite for risk and it was formal job after she completed matric in
generates seven megawatts of critical for us to become involved to de-risk the sector. 2006. Northern Cape: 15
power for the Eskom grid. Kanana This is precisely the role of the IDC – to create and Marawana dreams of becoming a human
Momentous director Pravin R556 expand new sectors,” she says. resources practitioner one day. She is
Semnarayan said this was R510 Now, the country’s Renewable Energy Independent studying towards an HR certificate through
enough to supply more than Power Producer Procurement programme, which Unisa.
2 000 households. Rustenburg began in 2011, counts pension funds belonging to Old “I started here as a security guard and my
For Semnarayan – a Marikana Mutual and Liberty, as well as the big four banks, life has turned around since then. I am even
professional engineer with a Mooinooi among its investors. able to send my nine-year-old to a private
master’s degree in chemical Matshekga says the IDC now wants to see a more school,” she said.
engineering and an MBA, as differentiated approach by focusing on meaningful black “More than anything, I am proud to be part of
well as work experience as an R R Buffelspoort participation and an increase in locally produced components for this. I have seen small solar panels used to power
operations executive for a casino 30 24 renewable energy projects. television sets, but I never thought that energy could be
group – this plant is the way of She says the IDC’s intervention will be at an ownership and Lizeka magnified and generate enough power to supply a
the future. management level, not a passive shareholding in renewable energy projects. Matshekga is whole village.”
“The amount of energy from Graphics24 However, Matshekga says there have been some missed opportunities in the driving the A few years ago, Marawana’s colleague, Dimakatso
the sun that falls on the planet programme. IDC’s focus Chunda, was one of many young South Africans
every hour could provide the entire world with power for one year. “To take full advantage of these opportunities, the IDC is supporting on renewable who had given up hope of finding a decent job.
“Here we use sunlight, not heat, and the sunlight falls on panels and photovoltaic projects that source inverters, mounting structures, cabling and energy “I completed matric in 2002 and helped my
gets inverted into a direct current,” he said. panels from local suppliers.” father in his small cash-loan business. This is my
“There is hope in solar energy and this form of renewable energy is The IDC, says Matshekga, will focus on developing a local knowledge base first formal job and I see myself growing here,” said
less complicated. Free energy from the sun is abandoned and not that will position South Africa to take advantage of the global opportunities in Chunda, who also works in the security control room.
being put to good use.” the renewable energy space. “My husband is unemployed, but I am managing to take care of our
Construction of the RustMo1 plant – which Semnarayan said was “The programme has been hailed as one of the most successful in the world. family, including our 14-year-old child, on my salary. Eastern Cape: 6
“just the beginning” of operations – began late in 2012 on a piece of South African developers are now going to the rest of the continent to source “I am also paying for my correspondence fees for a qualification in
land bought from a private owner. new markets in countries including Zambia, Rwanda and Ethiopia,” she says. occupational health and safety, which is relevant here at RustMo1.”
The 29 808 solar panel modules are connected to 11 inverters and “We have just issued a letter of support for a South African company bidding Semnarayan said they were working to expand the plant.
six mini-transformers that generate power in a noise-free environment. for a solar project in Cameroon. “This renewable energy source generates 35 000 to 40 000 kilowatt
They may look like ordinary solar panels, but a renewable energy “One of the subcontractors who worked on an IDC-supported solar plant in hours of energy daily. An average family household uses about
power plant this size does not come cheaply. the Northern Cape has – because of the greater emphasis on skills transfer – 600kWh per month,” he added.
Semnarayan said RustMo1 was built at a cost of R240 million, with been appointed to work on another project in Chile. “Solar photovoltaic panels contain material that converts solar
the IDC contributing 45% of this amount. “This shows that our focus on skills transfer can open up new global radiation directly into electricity. Although it is expensive to establish,
“The IDC made a major capital investment in the form of debt and opportunities for them,” says Matshekga. – Nicki Güles solar energy plants need nothing to run except the sun. And the sun
equity and also ensured local community ownership by making sure will keep shining until the world’s end,” added Semnarayan.

Lots of energy is just blowing in the wind

Western Cape: 3
Babalwa Kani (30), a political This is the first time any of them has been employed.
science graduate from the Kouga municipality On a “good” windy day, the turbines can run up to 25km/h, and
University of Pretoria, was sitting Addo Elephant supply as much as 18MW of power to a large area, including
at home without a job until an National Park Humansdorp, Jeffreys Bay, St Francis Bay, Oyster Bay, Cape St Francis,
opportunity to work at the R Kirkwood Tsitsikamma and surrounding farms.
Kouga Wind Farm in the Eastern 75 The parts used to make the turbines come from a German company,
Cape presented itself. Addo which installed them and is responsible for their maintenance for the
She has come to love her job next 10 years. Du Preez believes wind farms are better for the
as a community liaison officer at Noorshoek environment than solar power plants and offer one of the best solutions
the facility on the outskirts of Uitenhage to the country’s energy crisis.
Oyster Bay. Port “It’s green energy – you just make use of the wind and natural
N2
“I was one of the many Elizabeth resources and you don’t take up too much space. You don’t change
graduates who were struggling to Jeffreys much of the ecosystem around where turbines stand,” he says.
find a job. I was getting part- Bay Farming practices are undisturbed, as most of a turbine’s work is
time jobs here and there. Once Pozisa Singamba, Chandre Kettledas and Fiona Swaartbooi done 80m up. North West: 1
this came along, I was able to Oyster Bay Graphics24 are environmental field inspectors at a wind farm outside “The few fatalities of birds are minimal when you compare them with
have full-time work. That was Oyster Bay PHOTO: LUCKY NXUMALO fatalities caused by normal electricity lines around the country” he says.
two years ago,” she says. Kani’s job as the community liaison officer is to run development
Kani’s colleague, Fanie du Preez (49), works as an electrical technician “The main task of these turbines is to generate electricity from programmes, which include a solar-powered computer laboratory at a
and manages the Kouga Wind Farm’s 32 turbines. With 10 years of alternating current using the wind. The power is put into the system to local primary school and staff training at a school for the disabled.
experience as an electrician at Eskom, Du Preez has now worked for support the grid. It does not take long to set up 32 turbines, and the “I’m more conscious of what it does for the country, not just in terms
just over a year at the Kouga Wind Farm, one of many places in the amount of supply you can put into the grid is significant,” says Du of giving energy but also in giving back to the communities around it. I
area known for its high wind speeds, which makes it possible to Preez. think it’s one of the best programmes we have had,” she says.
generate reasonably reliable power from this natural resource. He manages a team of five and is responsible for maintaining the Originally from Zwide in Port Elizabeth, Kani is now able to save for
The turbines are giant, white, 80m-tall machines with large, spinning wind towers and assisting with environmental management at the site. future studies and send money home to her mother.
blades. The R2 billion project began about six years ago when investors The farm has 11 employees, including environmental field inspectors “Working here has widened my experience. Now I am experienced as
met local farmers to establish it. Now, 3 000 megawatts of electricity a Pozisa Singamba (19), Chandre Kettledas (21) and Fiona Swaartbooi (23), a socioeconomic-development practitioner in the renewable energy
year is generated at the plant, and it supplies Oyster Bay’s farming who visit the turbines daily to check for dead birds and assess the industry, which is quite a niche thing because not many people have
community and a number of surrounding towns with power. impact the machines have on the environment. experience in this field,” she says. THEUNS KRUGER, Graphics24