10 June 2021, Johannesburg — Today, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced amendments to Schedule Two of the Electricity Regulation Act that will allow South African businesses to self-generate 100MW of electricity. In response, Greenpeace Africa’s Climate and Energy Campaigner Thandile Chinyavanhu has said:
“Greenpeace Africa welcomes President Ramaphosa’s decision to lift the threshold on Independent Power Producers generation to 100 MW, the next step is to capitalise on the potential of the residential sector to address South Africa’s chronic energy insecurity. Had this decision not been delayed, South Africa could have avoided the onslaught of load-shedding during a brutal winter, and have provided South Africans resiliency in the midst of the pandemic.
“South Africa’s economy is not in its transmission lines; it is in its people. We continue to encourage The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy to implement the Integrated Resource Plan and strengthen its renewable energy components. The IRP has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emission by 84Mt of CO2 annually. The government needs to exploit this potential to limit the overshoot of the 1.5 degree celsius target as agreed to in the Paris Agreement.
“Eskom’s future going forward can only be with a focus on renewables. The alternative is a very dark and cold load shedding future.”
ENDS
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Greenpeace Africa Press Desk, [email protected]
Chris Vlavianos,
Greenpeace Africa Communications Officer,
[email protected], +2779 883 7036
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