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Engineering News reports that according to Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter, ongoing analysis and work done by various groups into the so-called Just Energy Transition (JET) pointed to the potential creation of 300,000 direct, indirect and induced jobs in SA’s electricity sector over the next decade.
This figure was over and above accounting for job losses in the coal sector as a result of the looming shuttering of some coal-fired power generation units. Speaking on Friday at the SA National Energy Association Unlock Conference, De Ruyter explained that the JET – through significant investment in solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind power – would create a favourable environment for job creation. In addition, he said the push into renewable energy would also drive local manufacturing capability, as everything other than the solar PV wafers (a component of which Chinese manufacturing holds the monopoly and economies of scale) could and should be made in SA. Eskom has started work on repurposing its Komati power station from being formerly coal-fired to being a small, pilot-scale plant producing solar PV power, as well as making land available for agriculture – a term De Ruyter called “agri-voltaic”. Eskom is also setting up a small assembly line for microgirds in Mpumalanga. “If we can get this JET to take off, it will enable us to plug the supply/demand gap sooner and more cost-effectively as renewable energy has proven to be the fastest way, and increasingly also the most affordable way to introduce new capacity, thereby reducing the risk of load-shedding,” De Ruyter said.
- Read the full original of the informative report in the above regard at Engineering News
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