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Subsidies for heaters delayed
07/07/2008 18:00 - (SA)
Michael Hamlyn
Cape Town - Only 35 solar water heating subsidies have so far been paid out across the country, and only a total of 301 orders have been received by approved suppliers of solar geysers.
Giving these figures in a written reply to a parliamentary question on Monday, Alec Erwin, the Public Enterprises Minister, said that so far there are 120 suppliers who have expressed intent to participate in the Solar
Water Heating Programme. "However, only 15 suppliers have actually obtained accreditation in the past five months," the Minister told Manie van Dyk of the Democratic Alliance. He added: "Eskom anticipates the current number of accreditations to double by the end of 2008."
Explaining what is causing the hold-up, Erwin said that one problem has been the unwillingness of suppliers seeking accreditation to submit their paperwork in a timely way. The actual accreditation process, he said, should only take 48 hours.
Erwin also put the blame for the delays on a lack of testing capacity at the SA Bureau of Standards (SABS) and the high costs of doing the tests.
"Eskom made a proposal to SABS to allow for international testing in an effort to intensify testing capacity," Erwin said.
Now, he said, a decision is required from the Eskom investment committee to make funding available towards SABS testing costs. An approval from the committee will enable the programme to reimburse all the suppliers whose systems have obtained the SABS mark of approval or test conformity
report.
To get the accreditation needed for a supplier to qualify for the incentive discount, he or she would need to have a SABS compliant system and proof of guarantee and maintenance plan.
He or she will need to have membership of the Sustainable Energy Society of Southern Africa, one of 50 national sections of the International Solar Energy Society, which is regarded as the premier body in solar energy with
members in over 100 countries.
The supplier will have to have product registration, installer registration, and must also provide relevant company documentation, such as company profile, financials, and tax clearances.
- I-Net Bridge
- I-Net Bridge (Business)
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