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W Cape sets power saving target
15/02/2008 12:40 - (SA)
Cape Town - Western Cape municipalities have agreed on an electricity saving plan that will "almost" eliminate the need for power cuts, Premier Ebrahim Rasool said on Friday.
Delivering his state of the province address, he said the agreement was reached at a meeting of mayors, the provincial government, Eskom and the Energy Risk Management Committee earlier this week.
The savings target had been set at 500 megawatts.
All municipalities would convene special council meetings in the next two weeks to decide how they would help meet the target.
Rasool said the planned distribution of two million compact fluorescent lights would save 63MW.
Geyser management such as ripple control would save another 101MW.
Other major savings would come from retrofitting of buildings, the installation of solar geysers, and what he called "consumer energy savings interventions".
This would be accompanied by promoting awareness throughout the province on energy savings, as well as well as advance information on power cuts.
Rasool said the province was aggressively promoting the use of renewable energy.
It was drafting a sustainable energy act with the financial support of the British High Commission, and fitting provincial government buildings with solar water heaters and solar electricity.
"As citizens of the Western Cape, we need to translate our actions now into a long-term lifestyle and behavioural change.
"We are poised to truly build an energy efficient economy in the Western Cape," he said.
- SAPA
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