Renewable Energy plants are a thing of the future thanks to new contracts finally being signed under President Cyril Ramaphosa’s leadership.

Renewable Energy contracts have been on hold for the last two years, as Ex-President Jacob Zuma was in favour of nuclear power. Thankfully, under the guidance of new President Cyril Ramaphosa, the contracts have been signed and the future is looking greener.

Contracts with Independent Power Producers (IPP) were held up due to political agendas and contested in court over the last two years. Just last week Numsa lost its bid to stop the Energy Minister, Jeff Radebe, from signing the contracts. Their argument was that the new energy plants would severely affect the jobs of workers in the coal sector. The court, however, felt this was not an urgent matter and rejected the application.

IPP will focus its efforts on solar and wind power, both of which are abundant in South Africa. The renewable energy contracts are worth about R56 billion. The projects are expected to see 2,300 megawatts of generation capacity added to the power grid over the next five years.

The South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) welcomed the signing of the contracts with renewable energy IPP projects and said that it will lead to rural upliftment and create more jobs for the country.

“In the case of round four projects, which has a majority of wind projects, the bulk of those projects are located in the Northern Cape. The benefits are directly linked into those communities, like economic development and employment creation.” – Brenda Martin, SAWEA

This is a massive win for South Africa and the environment. What are your thoughts?

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