As citizens, let’s band together to procure clean energy

AS A councillor serving on the energy and climate change portfolio committee, I spend a great deal of time reading up on energy and climate change topics.

An article in Clean Energy Wire, October 25, 2018, has excited me considerably. Ordinary citizens in Germany have been participating in what is called the “Energiewende”. They are taking ownership of renewable energy installations by banding together to invest in largescale installations in solar parks and wind turbines. They are doing so mostly through energy co-operatives or limited liability companies.

It all begins with project developers inviting citizens to invest their savings in a nearby wind farm.

In the South African context, a large group of Cape Town citizens, for instance, could band together to invest in a solar farm in the Northern Cape and then “wheel” the electricity generated there to the city. Excess energy could be converted into yellow hydrogen, another exciting fuel.

In Germany, municipalities also invest in such farms but separately from the directorate that distributes electricity. The City could do the same to give Cape Town the energy security and independence it needs.

Interestingly, citizens in Germany own at least 50% of voting shares in the energy projects they have invested in. This gives them a lot of say in the management of the project.

In recent years, according to research, German citizens have been investing in both onshore and offshore wind power projects.

For us in South Africa, the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa, made on June 10, increasing the licence threshold for people to generate power from 1MW to 100MW in order to lift the economy, creates a great opening. By August 10, we will know how many regulatory hurdles Minister Mantashe’s department will have removed.

As South Africans, we should note that our German counterparts own a high share in solar PV. Private individuals own 33% of installed solar and farmers own 16%. Energy co-operatives are responsible for more than half of Germany’s 1 700 renewable energy projects. Each member of a co-operative has one vote. The average dividend per year is 3.43%. Dividends, generally, are not paid in the first years after their creation.

For me, a more attractive angle would be for members of the co-operative to be able to buy the electricity its power farm is generating at a cheaper rate than is available and save enough in a battery during the day for use at night. If this helps to reduce one’s bill as a member of the co-operative substantially, the dividends from energy generation, yellow hydrogen production and carbon credits will be a sweet extra.

We should do what is in our own best interest and in the wider interest of our city and learn more from the German model to create what will work best for us. Leaders in the renewable energy field should step forward with a project that would guarantee us reliable and affordable clean energy into the future.

See: https://www.cleanenergywire.org/factsheets/citizens-participationenergiewende

FAROUK CASSIM | Cope Milnerton