Bright prospects for a cleaner-energy era

When considering the vast opportunities for renewable-energy roll-out in South Africa, the question that most in the new energy space are still pondering is: Where to from here? The short answer for those cause-driven activists may simply be:...

Huge investments needed to avoid dangerous climate change

In October, the United Nations Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) held a conference in Cape Town for its network of financial institutions as a penultimate technical preparatory session seeking to forge a coherent set of inputs for Copenhagen.

Two areas of concern in Refit II proposals

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) recently held a public hearing on September 3 regarding the second phase of the proposed renewable-energy feed-in-tariff, or Refit.

Providers of capital must support cleantech more aggressively

Last year marked another milestone for investment in cleantech and sustainable energy, especially in view of the difficult overall investment climate.

Three cheers for Nersa for Refit II

Last month’s column reflected on the sources and types of funding that are becoming available to promoters of businesses in the cleantech sector. This article reflects on the progress being made with the renewable-energy feed-in tariff (Refit)...

Cleantech offers compelling investment opportunities

In recent Cleantech Insights columns, we reflected on the nature and characteristics of the enterprises comprising the broader cleantech sector and on some of the drivers and trends that will underpin the sector’s growth over the medium to...

Renewables are set 
to take off

Clean-energy developers, ‘green’ lobbyists and investors alike have welcomed the announcement of the Renewable Energy Feed-In Tariff (Refit) guidelines in March by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa).

Cleantech approach to business continues to face impediments

A key factor in the expansion and economic success of new cleantech enterprises in South Africa, and globally for that matter, pertains to the demystification of cleantech as a business model.