Persistent
FINAL WORD
South Africa ’ s answer is blowing in the wind
Janek Winand , Managing Director South Africa , Siemens Gamesa writes that South Africa needs more wind power to tackle its energy crisis and investment in wind power is of strategic importance for the country ’ s future .
“ load shedding is impeding our recovery . We know that without a reliable supply of electricity , businesses cannot grow , assembly lines cannot run , crops cannot be irrigated , and basic services are interrupted ,” said HE President Cyril Ramaphosa in his State of the Nation Address recently . “ Without a reliable supply of electricity our efforts to grow an inclusive economy that creates jobs and reduces poverty will not succeed ”, he added .
There is no doubt that the South African power generation crisis is a tremendous challenge for the country and is endangering the country ’ s economy as a whole . As President Ramaphosa expressed in his speech , the trickle-down consequences of a delayed response in addressing these challenges will be dire for businesses , jobs and livelihoods .
As the second biggest economy in Sub-Saharan Africa , South Africa has been restricted for years in its development by constant power cuts , lasting hours at a time , undermining people ’ s ability to develop their lives , businesses to grow and services to function . However , the worsening of this situation over the past 12 months has made the situation unsustainable .
This is a particularly challenging reality to accept taking into consideration how rich South Africa is in energy resources , particularly renewable clean resources , that can help the country expand its power generation capacity and , in doing
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