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DoE blueprint for power industry sustainability

Department of Energy deputy director-general Dr Wolsey Barnard outlines some of the guiding principles that will ensure long- term sustainability for the power generation industry in Africa

18th April 2014

By: Ilan Solomons

Creamer Media Staff Writer

  

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It is important to have certain core anchoring points in place to ensure that African countries develop sustainable power industries, according to Department of Energy (DoE) deputy director-general Dr Wolsey Barnard.

“The power industry is an important enabler of local industry growth; therefore, it needs to be correctly structured to ensure that job creation, as well as national infrastructural and social development targets, are met,” said Barnard, who addressed the 2014 Power & Electricity World Africa conference, in Johannesburg, last month.

He stated that there were ten fundamental points that had to be fulfilled to ensure the successful sustainability of Africa’s energy sectors.

“Firstly, governments have to create clear power policies and, linked to this idea, is the need to ensure that the regulatory environment is stable to ensure that it provides all stakeholders with direction,” said Barnard.

Secondly, governments needed to develop long-term strategies to take their power industries forward.

“I think that, in many cases in Africa, we are able to fulfil the first two points; however, African policymakers failed in their ability to provide investors with guidance about the future development of the industry,” stated Barnard.

“Thirdly, once governments table their plans, they must include the development of power production facilities, with the ability to connect people to these power sources being the fourth point.

“The fifth point is that governments must investigate the affordability of the power being produced to ensure that it is cost effective for industrial and domestic users,” he added.

“Every country will have its own unique requirements and must, therefore, ensure that the best mix is available, as opposed to following the general world trends.”

Barnard noted that the sixth point was that countries must ensure they had working revenue collection processes to enable payment by consumers for electricity used.

“The seventh point is that the regular maintenance of a country’s power infrastructure is crucial, as many African countries have built world-class power generation and transmission infrastructure, only to let it deteriorate, owing to power utilities not maintaining the infrastructure,” he lamented.

“Closely linked to this point, is number eight, which is that Africa has to invest in skills development to ensure that it possesses sufficiently skilled workers who can operate and maintain the power generation and transmission systems,” he added.

Barnard’s ninth point was that once skilled workers had been developed, governments must have policies and incentives in place to ensure that they retained these workers.

The final point was that none of aforementioned points could be realised if African countries were not supported by their financial institutions

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Edited by Megan van Wyngaardt
Creamer Media Contributing Editor Online

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