Energy production in the Western Cape is set to become cleaner and greener with the introduction of ground-breaking legislation that will kick-start the renewable energy industry throughout the province.
The legislation includes a range of incentives, tariffs and tax breaks to stimulate the use of renewable energy across the residential, commercial and industrial sectors, the Cape Times reported on Tuesday.
It may even see the introduction of a mechanism that pays residents who produce their own renewable energy, to feed this energy back into the national grid.
Tasneem Essop, provincial minister for both Economic Development and for Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, announced at the climate change and renewable energy conference held in the city that she would begin the drafting of a renewable energy Act for the Western Cape.
The new legislation will also improve energy security in a province plagued by blackouts, and will help reduce the country’s carbon footprint.
It is also likely to include regulations that make it mandatory for new large housing projects, such as golf course developments, to have solar water heating and energy-efficient devices in all houses.
The director of the province’s strategic environmental management, Mark Gordon, said on Monday that because energy was not a provincial competency, the provincial government had to partner with the national government to draw up the new legislation, particularly with the Treasury, the Department of Minerals and Energy Affairs and the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa).
South Africa, which burns coal for over 90% of its electricity, is the seventh highest per capita emitter of carbon in the world.
The legislation is expected to be promulgated within two years. – Sapa