Volume II - The Northern Cape Provincial Spatial Development ...

Northern Cape PSDF
Volume 2
activities.pdf
Office of the Premier &
Department of Rural Development & Land Reform
128
December 2011
d) The Northern Cape Provincial Government has invested R20 million in a mariculture park at
Port Nolloth. Students from Hondeklip Bay and Port Nolloth were enrolled at the
University of Stellenbosch for relevant certificate courses and the John Ovenstone factory
is now the site of small‐scale hatcheries for abalone and oysters. Premier Fishing has a
lobster factory in Port Nolloth.
F.1.4 ENERGY SECTOR
Winkler (2005) 54 states that energy is critical to virtually every aspect of the economic and social
development of South Africa. Depending on the way it is produced, transported and used,
however, it can contribute to both local environmental degradation, such as air pollution, and
global environmental problems, principally climate change. Providing affordable, adequate, and
reliable modern energy supplies to most South Africans remains a major challenge, even though
access to electricity has increased from one‐third to two‐thirds of the population since 1994.
Current methods of producing and using energy have environmental and health effects that
increasingly endanger welfare, and the key challenge is to move to cleaner energy supply and more
efficient use, while continuing to extend affordable access to modern energy services, in particular
for poor rural and urban communities.
South Africa’s energy economy is dominated by coal, that commodity accounting for
approximately 75% of primary energy production. Within the primary energy framework, coal
provides for 95% of electricity generation. Moreover, coal and gas provide for 35% of liquid fuel
requirements courtesy of the synthetic fuel industries such as SASOL and PetroSA 55 . The South
African economy produces and uses a large amount of energy, is highly energy‐intensive, and is
heavily dominated by the extraction of raw materials and primary processing. The energy sector
contributes approximately 15% to the Gross Domestic Product, and employs approximately 250
000 people. Energy provision and use are crucial to South Africa’s overall development, especially
given the desire to attract foreign investment in the industrial sector. The demand for energy is
expected to grow, with the energy sector remaining of central importance to the country’s
economic growth.
With an increasing demand in energy predicted and growing environmental concerns about fossil
fuel based energy systems, the development of large‐scale renewable energy supply schemes is
strategically important for increasing the diversity of domestic energy supplies and avoiding
energy imports while minimizing the environmental impacts. The major energy challenges are
securing energy supply to meet growing demand, providing everybody with access to energy
services and tackling the causes and impacts of climate change (PGDS).
A number of feasibility studies have been conducted in the Northern Cape, suggested by many as
being the ideal location for various forms of alternative energy. In 2010 the Industrial
Development Corporation spent R33‐million on investigating photo‐voltaic, thermal, solar and
wind power.
54
Winkler, H. 2005: Renewable energy policy in South Africa: policy options for renewable electricity. Energy
Policy. Elsevier.
55
http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/sdissues/energy/op/ccs egm/presentations papers/surridge paper sa
Dennis Moss Partnership