http://www.evwind.es/noticias.php?id_not=7881A conference later this month will decide the fate of an ambitious undertaking in South Africa for the creation of 5GW solar park.
A positive outcome could trigger the development of South Africa’s Concentrating Solar Power market. An ambitious undertaking in South Africa, industrial gateway to the African continent, is the proposed creation of a R150 billion solar park, which on completion, would have the capacity to produce approximately 5 000 MW of renewable energy.
The project, if implemented, will be carried out in phases, with the initial phase having a capacity of 1 000 MW. The solar park would incorporate Eskom’s 100 MW concentrating solar power (CSP) plant, which has received part funding from the World Bank.
This proposed initiative does not come a moment too soon, as South Africa, a country fraught by rolling blackouts, has to increasingly turn towards alternative energy sources to help counteract its dire energy shortage and decrease its dependence on coal-fired power stations. The latter cannot be relied upon given the unreliability of South Africa’s future coal reserves for use in energy projects. Furthermore carbon emissions need to be reduced in order to adhere to international green principles and combat global warming.
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