Renewable energy sector could provide jobs boost to SA
The renewable energy sector could provide an unexpected but much-needed jobs boost to South Africa’s employment levels, as the sector continues to mature, solar energy company SOLA Future Energy said on Monday.
SOLA Future Energy is the company that replaced Robben Island’s diesel-powered electricity supply with a grid driven by solar energy.
The more new solar systems are built and come on line, the greater the growth in the ongoing job opportunities in both the operation and maintenance of these facilities," CEO Dom Wills said.
"Although the job prospects for the construction of renewable energy projects are well understood, ongoing and permanent career opportunities created by the operation and maintenance of the solar systems are just as important and should not be underestimated,” he said.
Wills said a common misconception about the renewable energy sector is that it lacks job opportunities.
“At first, those seeking jobs in the energy sector in South Africa were just looking to work for entities like Eskom," he said, referring to the state owned electricity utility.
"As more people understood that installed solar panels needed maintenance, interest in the sector grew. As the sector has grown, the opportunities have expanded and also become more specialised."
The European market shows that for every MW of solar installed, some 28 job-years per MW were created. Closer to home, across SOLA’s operations portfolio of 23.5 MW, four people are employed full time and one part time.
“If we extrapolate this to cover the entire embedded market, we estimate that at least 37 people are employed, full time, for South Africa’s current 200 MW of embedded generation," said Wills. "The market potential of 5 000 MW means that at least 900 potential jobs could exist."
Comments
The
content
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
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