Caption; Premier Ndlovu and DPWR&T MEC, Thulasizwe Thomo, during a walkabout at the site
By Lwazi Raul-Shongwe and Kopano Dibakwane
The Mpumalanga Provincial Government, led by Premier Mandla Ndlovu, paid a visit to a 900MW(megawatts) hybrid renewable energy facility called Umbila Wind Farm, located between Bethal, Ermelo and Morgenzon, on Thursday 5 September.
The large infrastructure is said to be a pioneering project implemented by Seriti Green, which is a subsidiary of Seriti.
According to a statement by the Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport(DPWRT), the project is envisioned to become the largest of its kind in the country, redefining Mpumalanga Province’s journey towards sustainable energy solutions.
Speaking to members of the media during the visit, Premier Ndlovu said the project is a milestone for the province and it will be beneficial to the people of Mpumalanga in terms of job creation. The Premier said Seriti has invested R25 billion into the project.
“ We are generating roughly close to 80% energy of this country. We think this project will also reposition ourselves to be an energy hub as a province of Mpumalanga. We are going to support this project because people are going to benefit,” said Ndlovu.
Seriti Green Chief Executive Officer(CEO), Peter Venn, said the plan is to build approximately 3GW of wind and solar renewables before 2030. In terms of job creation, Venn said the project currently has 372 people on site and 72% of this number is from the local community.
He furthermore stated that he expects the number of people employed under the project to grow from between 750 to 800 in the next 12 months. According to Venn, he expects between 5000 to 10 000 people to be employed under the renewable construction industry in Mpumalanga over the next five years.
“The large infrastructure that we saw today is connecting to the ESKOM grid. In this project that allows 900MW to be evacuated, we will be building 29 billion-900MW project over the next 36 months and in the near vicinity we have a further 2GW that we want to prosecute on over the next 36 to 48 months.
Mpumalanga Province will be the home of renewables construction for the next 10 to 15 years and it’s very important that the support of the Premier is there as we grow this industry, and that industry being the construction of renewable energy so that we can meet the target of doubling the amount of generation the country has over the next 15 to 20 years just to keep the lights on,” said Venn.
