Friday 16 November 2012

Clean energy roars into South African homes

Siemens is expected to help around 130,000 South African households get clean energy by 2014.

The German firm is planning two solar plants with a 50MW capacity, which will be connected to the grid in 2014 to power the homes.

It was also awarded the order to supply sixty wind turbines with a total capacity of 138MW for an onshore power plant on South Africa’s southern coast. The firm will also carry out maintenance on the turbines for a period of 10 years.

Siemens claims 580 million people in Africa currently do not have access to reliable electricity supply.

Ute Menikheim, Siemens Energy CEO for Africa said: “South Africa has outstanding conditions for the utilisation of solar and wind energy and has set up a remarkable renewable energy programme… Renewable energy will help to increase access to electricity, create much-needed jobs and support the economic growth on the continent while lowering our carbon emissions.”

The projects are expected to help the country reach its target of generating around 20,000MW of renewable electricity by 2030.