From this year, only suppliers which commit to localising their product
would be allowed to participate in the government-funded solar water
heating (SWH) programme, Energy Minister Dipuo Peters said this week.
“While we are recording good progress with the implementation of the SWH programme, I need to, also, indicate that the majority of these systems, particularly the low-pressure type that we install in the reconstruction and development programme and medium-income residential sectors, are imported.
“This is clearly untenable and the time has arrived for us to intervene if we are to make a difference in creating local job opportunities,” the Minister emphasised in her Budget Vote speech, delivered in Parliament.
The details of the new approach to support only those suppliers installing units from manufacturers that commit to bring their factories to South Africa would be announced in due course.
Despite initial teething problems, to date, over 250 000 SWH systems have been installed nationally as part of the SWH programme. Peters said the one-million target, by 2014, was still in sight.
She added that the total allocation for the 2012/13 financial year was R6.8-billion, R1-billion of which was earmarked for the Energy Efficiency and Demand Side Management (EEDSM) programme, to accelerate the SWH programme.
Meanwhile, energy efficiency remained central to the department’s focus of balancing electricity supply and demand.
In partnership with the National Treasury, the department introduced the Energy Efficiency Tax Incentive Regulations that were intended to incentivise investment in energy efficiency measures. The regulations were gazetted for public comment in November and would be finalised this year.
“Last year, we committed to achieve one terawatt-hours (TWh) of energy savings from a combination of EEDSM interventions, including the SWH programme and other initiatives,” the Minister indicated.
National power provider Eskom indicated that savings of 1.471 TWh had been achieved to date.
“We need to intensify these efforts throughout South Africa, so as to maximise the energy sector’s contribution towards sustainable development,” Peters urged.
“While we are recording good progress with the implementation of the SWH programme, I need to, also, indicate that the majority of these systems, particularly the low-pressure type that we install in the reconstruction and development programme and medium-income residential sectors, are imported.
“This is clearly untenable and the time has arrived for us to intervene if we are to make a difference in creating local job opportunities,” the Minister emphasised in her Budget Vote speech, delivered in Parliament.
The details of the new approach to support only those suppliers installing units from manufacturers that commit to bring their factories to South Africa would be announced in due course.
Despite initial teething problems, to date, over 250 000 SWH systems have been installed nationally as part of the SWH programme. Peters said the one-million target, by 2014, was still in sight.
She added that the total allocation for the 2012/13 financial year was R6.8-billion, R1-billion of which was earmarked for the Energy Efficiency and Demand Side Management (EEDSM) programme, to accelerate the SWH programme.
Meanwhile, energy efficiency remained central to the department’s focus of balancing electricity supply and demand.
In partnership with the National Treasury, the department introduced the Energy Efficiency Tax Incentive Regulations that were intended to incentivise investment in energy efficiency measures. The regulations were gazetted for public comment in November and would be finalised this year.
“Last year, we committed to achieve one terawatt-hours (TWh) of energy savings from a combination of EEDSM interventions, including the SWH programme and other initiatives,” the Minister indicated.
National power provider Eskom indicated that savings of 1.471 TWh had been achieved to date.
“We need to intensify these efforts throughout South Africa, so as to maximise the energy sector’s contribution towards sustainable development,” Peters urged.
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