Key role players in the wind energy sector are meeting today in Cape Town, until the 05th October 2023.
The capacity of the grid will form part of the discussions, and so will grid expansion plans and all things pertaining to wind energy.
Niveshen Govender, SAWEA Chief Executive Officer says “we need to redouble our efforts to bring renewable energy projects on stream, both through private and public sector procurement. But procurement alone is not the answer, and over the course of the conference, we will explore ways to optimise the existing transmission infrastructure capacity and overcome the blockages that have been hampering new renewable power generation being connected to the grid.”
In January 2023 Eskom released a statement detailing that it was only able to supply 56.6% of the power needed nationally in the 2022/23 financial year. This has been further compounded by a failed public procurement bid window which resulted in the loss of investment, market confidence and ultimately additional capacity to the grid.
SAWEA recently published the results of the Renewable Energy Grid Survey which revealed a pipeline of almost 30GW of new wind projects being developed, which if realised has the potential to contribute significantly to the current energy crisis and help reaffirm South Africa’s status as an investment destination for renewable energy.
The sector will also address challenges of wind energy, including bird kills in farms closest to wetlands of global significance (Ramsar).