Limpopo’s proposed mega-industrial complex the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone (SEZ) will, in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), launch a Renewable Energy Strategy in March.

The strategy would serve as a blueprint to guide investments in the province’s energy cluster, while promoting sustainable development, Limpopo Premier Stanley Chupu Mathabatha noted during his State of the Province Address on February 23.

He added that the partnership with USAID would contribute to mitigating the impact of the nationwide energy crisis on the province and businesses.

"In making our contribution to help resolve the energy crisis and to build a just energy transition, we will need to prioritise the building of an uninterrupted electric power supply capability for essential services.”

The provincial government and municipalities are expected to include renewable energy generation projects in their development plans, the Premier said.

“These plans must encapsulate the possible retrofitting of solar panels to all government buildings. This will have to be done in a way that will complement Eskom,” he added.

“The provision of healthcare and education services should be amongst the first to be insulated from the electric power supply interruptions. And it is in this context that, as a start, I have mandated the MEC for Health to prioritise the installation of solar power at hospitals and clinics in the province,” he said.

The availability of water is another area of concern for the province and the development of the Musina-Makhado SEZ.

Mathabatha said the Department of Water and Sanitation had given the Limpopo government the assurance that it would support the project with water in the short, medium and long term.

The Premier further reported that, following the approval of the environmental-impact assessment for the SEZ in July 2022, construction work had gotten under way on a portion of the SEZ, with the laying of bulk infrastructure.

Further, 14 km of internal roads are also under construction.