Gauteng is fast-tracking the development of renewable energy to assist in alleviating the pressures placed on the national grid.
Speaking in Sandton recently, Gauteng infrastructure development MEC Nandi Mayathula-Khoza said, “Solar energy and energy for landfill gas are the most obvious short-term [projects] that we have embarked on… [they] will be implemented at provincial and municipal level”.
Solar energy is being integrated across the province from solar water heaters, solar powered street lights and traffic lights. Government buildings have also installed solar panels to generate their own power.
“We [government] have also started a process of ensuring the boilers we use in our hospitals will be run by natural gas and not by coal”, Mayathula-Khoza added.
According to Mayathula-Khoza, government is driving the need for the private sector to involve more power purchase agreements.
