Wind farm Metrowind Van Stadens has installed solar- powered streetlights in the communities of Shamrock and Witteklip, in the Eastern Cape. The lights were commissioned in December and provide transformational light for local residents.
Funds for the solar lighting were donated by construction and engineering group Basil Read Matomo, a member of the Basil Read group, which is responsible for the engineering, procurement and construction of the Metrowind Van Stadens wind farm.
The company also invested more than R400 000 in the development of previously disadvantaged, small and medium-sized businesses in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro during 2012. The construction and engineering enterprises that have been identified to receive the funds will also receive mentorship and professional advice from Basil Read Matomo to further develop their businesses.
Basil Read Matomo director of energy Marius von Wielligh says that small and medium-sized enterprises are the incubators of job creation in South Africa. “The growth of the renewable-energy industry in the Eastern Cape, and particularly the wind farms that are being developed in and around the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality, is a catalyst for economic growth in one of the most impoverished provinces in the country.”