SA and Germany could improve renewable energy co-operation ??? chamber

SA and Germany could improve renewable energy co-operation – chamber(By Christy van der Merwe via Engineering News)Energy efficiency and renewable energy were sectors with a lot of potential

to scale up South African and German co-operation, said Southern African

German chamber of commerce and industry CEO Matthias Boddenberg on Tuesday.“In Germany, we have done several workshops informing South African and

German companies on opportunities in that field, from photovoltaic to solar

thermal heating,” he told Engineering News Online.He said the chamber had also established its own affiliated association,

the South African Biofuel Association in order to promote an integrated

system for renewable energies in South Africa.“The sun is shining here more often than anywhere else in the world, and we

must utilise this God-given gift for the well being of South Africa and our

companies,” he added.The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) recently released the

second phase of the renewable energy feed-in-tariff (Refit), which was

hoped to stimulate investment n the area of renewable energy projects.The second phase of the Refit included previously excluded technologies

such as solar photovoltaic, where German expertise in this field was well

respected.“From my point of view it could always be a little bit more, but we are

glad that we have now found the first step in the right direction,” said

Boddenberg of South Africa’s Refit.“With the global situation that we are facing now, with global warming, but

also with the economic crisis, we are having the chance to do a major shift

towards environmentally friendly people,” he asserted.Germany was said to have created 100 000 jobs in the renewable energy

sector between 2004 and 2006. With South Africa’s abundant natural

resources from the sun, and wind, it was felt that the country should do

more to harness these, and thereby create jobs as well as sustainable green

electricity.The chamber was also conducting training workshops in South Africa, in the

field of solar thermal installation, from October. A lack of capacity to

install solar water heaters has been identified in the industry as one of

the bottlenecks holding back the uptake of this energy saving technology.For the very latest renewable energy jobs from across Germany, South Africa

and globally please click here