Johannesburg - Renewable energy technology that will ensure public facilities are spared from the impact of the country's current energy crisis is already cruising over to South Africa's shores.
Electricity Minister Kgosientso Ramokgopa has revealed that great things are on the horizon in resolving the energy crisis thanks to two agreements signed by President Cyril Ramaphosa and China's President Xi Jinping at the Union Buildings recently.
Providing the weekly update on progress on the country's Energy Action Plan (EAP), Ramokgopa said the agreements were signed with eight Chinese state-owned entities, with the two overarching memoranda witnessed by the two heads of state.
According to the electricity minister, the first agreement spoke to boosting green energy solutions, with the agreements signed to enable the country to exploit renewable energy sources in the country.
These agreements, he said, would also look into the use of modern technology and the degree to which the country was able to connect renewable energy to the grid.
"The rationale we have for entering into these agreements with the People's Republic of China is that they are the dominant player in the renewable energy space. They have 688 Gigawatts of installed capacity of renewable energy, which is a combination of photovoltaic (PV) and wind power.
"They've done one of the biggest expansions of transmissions and also worked out the kind of transmission modernisation that is required to be able to accommodate the intermittency of renewable energy sources," he explained.
Ramokgopa said the heads of state had also exchanged letters in relation to a donation the country would be receiving from China, which was meant to help South Africa address the current energy crisis.
Working with the provincial governments of all nine provinces, critical public facilities such as hospitals, clinics, correctional services, and police stations will be prioritised to receive the technology capacity to avert the impact of load shedding.
"Those were given upfront, and we are happy to report that the first shipment of this technology is already in transit on its way to South Africa as it (the donation) left China's shores on August 14. They have already been at sea for 10 days, but we will announce when the shipment lands."
The electricity minister added that he would also provide an indication of which public facilities would benefit from the generous donation.
The Star