Empowering Kouga to become energy leaders

PHOTO: At the renewable energy workshop were (from left) Cacadu portfolio councillor Noel OfConnel, courses facilitator Lisa Thompson-Smeddle, Kouga Executive Mayor Booi Koerat, Human Resource Development manager in the Office of the Premier Ingrid Daniel, and Kouga portfolio councillor Phumzile Oliphant.

KOUGA has taken another step closer towards becoming the "energy hub of South Africa".

A successful renewable energy workshop was hosted by the Office of the Premier at Jeffreys Bay on 26 March.

The workshop followed only weeks after the sod-turning ceremonies of two of the first wind farms to be developed in South Africa. Both are situated in the Kouga region.

Executive Mayor Booi Koerat said Kouga was honoured to be chosen as one of the first municipalities to benefit from the workshop initiative.

"The sod-turning ceremonies of the wind farms at Jeffreys Bay and Oyster Bay have placed Kouga firmly in the limelight as a leading player in the renewable energy field," he said.

Workshop facilitator Lisa Thompson-Smeddle, of the Sustainable Development Network, said the course was designed to give politicians and officials, particularly at local government level, the know-how to adopt and implement renewable energy technologies.

"There is growing jungle of information out there about renewable energy," she said. "The aim of the workshop is to guide local leaders through this jungle so that they can understand, manage and fulfil the goals set out in the Integrated Resource Plan that was endorsed by Government in 2011."

She said Kouga was one of the first municipalities at which the workshop was being presented because of the development that was already taking place in the region.

The workshop gave participants an overview of the legal environment, the available technical solutions and financing options for implementing renewable energy projects at a municipal level.

"While energy-related strategies and policies are initiated nationally, it is municipalities that are the primary delivery agents for electricity service provision," the Mayor said.

"Energy-related projects also bring with them local economic development opportunities.

"The Kouga Council will, therefore, continue to build on its understanding of renewable energy sources and its capacity to facilitate its development. It is in the interest of both our region and the country as a whole."