South African National Energy Research Institute (Saneri) CEO Kevin Nassiep said that South Africa’s largest solar energy project that had previously been put on hold by state-owned power utility Eskom may still see completion as other companies show interest.
Eskom had announced that the solar facility was one of the projects delayed due to a lack of investment, but Nassiep said that organizations like the Central Energy Fund (CEF) was interested in the project although likely to only be a minority stakeholder.
Eskom spokesman Andrew Etzinger said yesterday the solar project was essentially a research and development initiative. “It is not a commercial power station. We would like to look at it as a demonstration plant to demonstrate new technology for SA.”
Nassiep said there was a need to accelerate the roll-out of solar water heaters. “We need to go bigger and quicker,” he said.