South Africa moving Green?

South Africa moves forward on green power subsidies

December 7, 2010 - South African environmentalists have grown increasingly frustrated of late: while the government is full of bold plans for renewable energy, it has been slow to bring about real growth in the sector. So they will be cautious in their approval of Monday’s announcement that the government will start a long-awaited subsidy scheme in the first quarter of next year, in the hope of unleashing a wave of green electricity investment.

The cause is more urgent now than ever. For one thing, it has become a key part of the government’s fight against unemployment – the state wants to create 300,000 jobs in the “green economy” in the next decade.

But it is also needed to avert a repeat of the electricity crisis that swept the country three years ago. Eskom, the state electricity company, is racing against time to build enough capacity to keep up with the economy as it recovers from last year’s recession, and is pressing ahead with two 4,800MW coal-fired power stations. {read rest