EDEN DISTRICT NEWS - The Eden District Municipality (Eden DM) hosted a Green Energy Summit on 11 and 12 April at Fancourt in George, which was themed "Promoting green energy initiatives towards an even greener Eden District".
More than 200 delegates from the public and private sectors, through their active participation in discussions about the region's transition to a collective, sustainable and renewable energy model, have confirmed their ambition for "green energy".
Declaration of intent
The big idea, which also forms part of the prerogative of the Western Cape Government, is to harness enough power for positive, sustainable growth that has a low carbon footprint.
Added to this, the idea is to have mayors of all municipalities in the Eden District sign a declaration of intent which outlines municipalities' drive toward sustainable energy solutions that will provide a reliable, secure, sustainable and affordable supply of electricity to communities.
Delegates who attended the Eden DM summit included the Western Cape Provincial Energy Game Changer, GreenCape, CSIR Energy Centre, Independent Power Producer (IPP), Green Building Council SA, NMU, Stellenbosch University’s Centre of Renewable & Sustainable Energy Studies, SA Local Government Association (SALGA), Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), George Municipality and various private sector entities and NGOs.
Eden DM mayor Memory Booysen (5th from the left, front row) and municipal manager Monde Stratu (4th from left, front row) with all the speakers at the first day of the Green Energy Summit.
'Committed to a greener future'
Eden DM mayor Memory Booysen said, "Our district was voted the greenest district for the past five years in a row, and this summit is yet another confirmation of our commitment towards ensuring a greener future for all."
He also explained that vulnerable members of the community require subsidised electricity and that "the district is committed to meeting their needs for affordable and reliable energy supply".
"Our regional landfill site is situated next to PetroSA, which is one of the leading refineries in the world and we will leverage this strategic position to see how we can work with them in the future," said Booysen.
Green energy a key priority
In 2016, Eden DM started with its first step of "going greener" when it invested in a photovoltaic (PV) power plant of 476 panels at its head office in George. The concept of green energy also forms part of the key priorities of the council and is now well reflected in its new spatial development framework (SDF) that was adopted and approved by the council on 5 December 2017.
At the summit, the public and private sector delegates voted to pursue the following government-driven green initiatives over the short, medium and long term (in order of priority):
1. To develop an “Eden integrated energy plan” aligned with local raw water sources in Eden District (e.g. groundwater pumping, desalination, pumped storage, etc.) and to integrate it into an Eden growth and development plan.
2. To implement at least one new green energy project per municipality in the Eden District and to collectively pursue such projects under a new Eden Energy Forum that will aim to meet on a bi-monthly basis (first meeting to be held on 31 May 2018).
3. Explore and implement alternative transport fuel strategies, including the conversion of municipal fleets and alternative fuel charging/filling networks/PV charge stations throughout the Eden District.
4. To ensure existing, planned independent power producers (IPPs) (e.g. 75MW Dysselsdorp Solar PV Project and George Biomass Energy Project) are implemented, and to attract new IPPs to the district by creating an enabling environment.
5. Ensure that green planning elements are fully reflected in each municipality’s SDF, integrated development plan (IDP) and sector plan implementation framework.
6. Establish a local biomimicry research centre and discovery park at an appropriate location in the Eden District.
On the second day of the summit, delegates from the public and private sectors voted to pursue specific green initiatives over the short, medium and long term.
'Solar prices will continue to fall'
According to Dr Hildegarde Fast, Energy Security Game Changer Lead in the department of the premier of the Western Cape Government, solar PV prices will continue to fall and level out at around R8 000 to R10 000 per kWp. Fast also explained that "solar will be one of the cheapest sources of energy in South Africa and uptake of Solar PV will continue to increase".
She raised concerns about the district and its municipalities "lagging behind" when specifically referring to local government creating an enabling environment for PV.
Chief CSIR engineer Dr Clinton Carter-Brown presented interesting facts about new wind and solar PV which were installed globally. According to Dr Carter-Brown, 54GW of new wind and 70GW of solar PV capacity was installed worldwide in 2016. This is all very new, because it indicates that roughly 80% of the globally existing solar PV capacity was installed since 2013.
Carter-Brown also said that future key drivers in energy consumption and control would include plug-in electric vehicles; energy efficiency; energy controls; heat pumps and consumer electronics.
Nearly 200 delegates from the public and private sectors joined hands over the two-day summit to find a "green" way forward for the district.
'Nature offers limitless opportunities'
Sue Swain from Biowise also presented an alternative approach to green energy' which involves humans making use of the same system nature uses to create conditions conducive to life. She explained to the audience that becoming "Earth savvy" is a wise decision because there are limitless opportunities offered by the natural environment – a dynamic system; cyclical processes; inter-constructiveness; multifunctionality, to mention a few.
Overberg District Municipality mayor Sakkie Franken (left) also attended the summit. On his right is Eden DM mayor Memory Booysen.
In closing, municipal manager Monde Stratu said that the outcomes of the summit mark the beginning of the hard work ahead and that the summit will form part of Eden DM's long-term growth and development strategy and an integrated energy master plan.
Click here to read more about what was discussed at the Green Energy Summit.
Read a related article: Eden district Municipality wants to ride green energy tide
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