Cape's plan to end 'energy poverty'
Seshoane Masitha
27 May 2004
Cape Town has unveiled plans for energy development and management to help the city meet growing energy needs, thus contributing to sustainable development.
Councillor Saleem Mowzer, the mayoral committee member responsible for trading services, said the 10-point energy plan was the culmination of a report on the state of energy in Cape Town.
Mowzer said the strategy followed the outcome of the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the Johannesburg Plan of Action, with regard to energy.
He said the implementation of the Cape Town Strategy had enabled the expansion of energy efficiency interventions to an additional 2 300 households in Kuyasa in Khayelitsha.
"Our city continues to be an attractive energy partner to cities across Africa and the world, the commercial and industrial sector, civil society and non-governmental institutions as an energy partner," said Mowzer.
He also announced that 600 low-income households in
Lwandle township had been fitted with solar water heaters.
The plan aims, among others, to have 10 percent of households installed with solar heaters by 2020 and achieve 10 percent of renewable energy consumption by 2020.
It will also harness the power of wind energy through the Darling Wind Farm on the Cape West Coast.
Mowzer also said the city had invested R222.9-million for the upgrading, repair and maintenance of the city's energy distributing infrastructure.
"The plan strives to ensure affordable and accessible energy services to all through electricity tariff setting and accessible electricity vending outlets, especially to the poor by eradicating "energy poverty" by accelerating the electrification of informal settlements and providing free basic electricity," Mowzer said.
He added that the city will expand energy efficiency initiatives through community participation, education and awareness.
"The plan will ensure the introduction of
cleaner fossil fuels such as natural gas through the West Coast Oil and Gas Initiative," said the councillor.
He said the reality of tapping into the gas reserves of the West Coast had gained momentum with the nomination of a Cape Oil and Gas Board, including the appointment of an executive director.
He added that 250 000 households in informal and backyard dwellings still needed to be formally connected to electricity through the accelerated upgrading of informal settlements.
Source: BuaNews
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