Africa to benefit from Canada’s renewable-energy expertise
Canada, which generates over 77% of its electricity from renewable-energy sources, has a lot to offer African countries in terms of technical skills and expertise in the renewable-energy space, Canadian Minister of International Trade Ed Fast said on Tuesday.
He stated that Canadian companies had the experience and technical skills to help sub-Saharan African countries develop their renewable-energy sectors.
Fast, who is leading leading a Southern African-focused trade delegation of Canadian companies active in the extractives and energy sectors, was in Cape Town for the launch of SkyPower Cares, the corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative of SkyPower – a Canadian developer of solar photovoltaic projects.
He pointed out that Canada, endowed with mountains and plentiful water sources, relied heavily on hydroelectric power for its electricity. This was in contrast to South Africa’s sharper focus on sun and wind, neither of which were abundant in Canada.
Fast stressed that countries would not have dynamic growth without affordable and clean sources of energy.
South African Trade and Industry Dr Rob Davies highlighted that South Africa shared good trade links with Canada and that Canadian companies were contributing in the local renewable-energy space.
He further indicated that South Africa had already commissioned enough renewable energy to equate to a sizeable coal-fired power station.
Davies said the country’s “ambitious” renewable-energy procurement programme had been set up to avert "catastrophic climate change", but was also important in supporting manufacturing and job creation.
SOLAR-POWERED LIGHTS
SkyPower on Tuesday, as part of its CSR initiative, donated 5 000 solar-powered lights to South African schoolchildren living in remote communities with limited access to electricity.
The durable and portable lights will provide the children with over four hours of safe lighting each evening to enable them to study during the dark evening hours.
“Education is our future. This fits with Canada’s long-standing commitment to ensuring girls, boys and youth have access to quality basic education,” said Fast.
SkyPower president and CEO Kerry Adler added that he hoped the CSR initiative would spark similar projects in Africa.
“This inaugural contribution is just the beginning. Our vision is to inspire and encourage other caring corporations and individuals to help us make a difference for schoolchildren in unelectrified communities worldwide and help them break the cycle of poverty through personal empowerment.”
In Africa’s rural areas, about 600-million people live without access to electricity and often rely on highly flammable, expensive and polluting kerosene lanterns as a source of light.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation