South Africa: Greenpeace Solicits 10,000 Signatories To Petition Ramaphosa Over Rolling Power Crisis

Environmental activists’ group, Greenpeace, is soliciting for signatures of 10,000 South Africans in a bid to petition President Cyril Ramaphosa to tackle the debilitating power crisis by committing to add 13,600 megawatts of power from renewable energy sources.

The group believes it is about time the President took a hard decision that would allow for more power generators instead of monopolising power generation to only Eskom.

So far, over 6,122 people have signed the petition.

In a post on Facebook sighted by energynewsafrica.com, the group said South Africans are in an energy crisis because of the government’s addiction to coal and corruption.

“Load shedding is gutting the economy and leaving people unemployed.

“Even though the power grid has been opened up to independent renewable power producers (IPPs), the endless blame game between Eskom and the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) is wasting time and making it nearly impossible for independent renewable power producers to get access quickly and provide South Africans with much-needed power.

https://web.facebook.com/GreenpeaceAfrica/posts/573081828192537

“Tell President Cyril Ramaphosa to fast-track a shift to renewable energy by committing to add 13,600 megawatts of renewable energy (enough renewable energy to power almost 22,900 homes per month) to our grid by the end of 2023. To achieve this, he should commit to removing any red tape from bidding processes for renewable IPPs.

“Removing any red tape preventing municipalities from buying renewable energy directly from IPPs.

“Ensuring that determinations (authorisation from the Minister of DMRE) for renewable IPPs are issued faster will speed up the implementation of projects. Removing all grid connection costs for renewable IPPs,” Greenpeace stated.

Source: https://energynewsafrica.com