POWER June 2014 - 61

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POWER SOUTH AFRICA
tent requirements in IPP projects is a factor
that will spur on the local manufacturing
industry. According to Dr. MKhulu Mathe,
manager of energy materials at CSIR: " It is
the government's position that 50% of the
materials should be made locally. Another
reason for that is that increased competition
forces a normalization of prices and
compelled developers to have a realistic
mark up. "
" Increased local content requirements will
be pushing IPPs to be creative on the formulation
of their tariffs when they can get
cheaper products and services from China.
Programs must be sustainable for a reasonably
long period of time; otherwise there is
no real incentive for manufacturers to set
up manufacturing facilities in South Africa " ,
said Kieran Whyte, director, national practice
head for projects and infrastructure
from DLA Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, a leading
South African law irm.
Many entrants, especially in the solar market,
continue to import their products from
China, but are mindful of the local content
requirements and local job creation.
" As Eco Green Energy, we aim to work
with the local community, as we do not
want to threaten the local industry with
imports from China. We see it as an opportunity
to develop, not only the energy that
is needed here in South Africa, but also to
create more jobs, " said Dalibor Nikolovski,
general manager of solar solutions provider,
Eco Green Energy.
Econet is a well-known mobile service
provider in Africa that has recently branched
out into the providing solar solutions
to remote clients. As a newcomer on the
scene, Econet is already building local ties
and manufacturing capabilities " All the
design concepts are done in South Africa
and all the installation and supervision
is local, so our products are South African
products, " said Luc Tanoh, CEO of
Econet Solar.
Coal the Present and
Gas the Future
Coal
generation will
an abundance of coal resources which will
maintain and create jobs for many years
to come. If well managed, coal is still
one of the cheapest forms of energy in
South Africa. "
Yet, while coal is an important resource
for base load, the expectations are that,
post 2020, the focus will shift signiicantly.
" Endress + Hauser in South Africa understands
the challenges of the sustainability
of thermal projects going forward and it
remains to be seen what Eskom's plans
are beyond Medupi and Kusile, " said Rob
MacKenzie. " There are many new opportunities
that are presenting themselves such
as gas which is a better alternative to coal " .
Stephen Moore, CEO of MHPSA, a merger
between Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and
Hitachi, said: " MHPSA are focused on thermal
power so we are keen on pushing that
continue to
predominate the energy sector until 2020
through new builds as well as the upgrade
of Eskom's existing leet. As Stephen
Leatherbarrow of Robor noted: " One
needs to bear in mind that South Africa has
June 2014
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POWER June 2014

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