Small towns out in cold

DEVELOPMENT: LOCALS LACK REQUIRED SKILLS

- Boitumelo Malope

» Industrial sociologist spoke to community leaders, staff of wind farms outside Northern Cape.

Northern Cape has become a prime area for investment in renewable energy. It is host to 59 of the 112 large-scale renewable energy projects secured through the country's flagship Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme by 2021.

But have the communities hosting these new projects benefited from them?

How should renewable energy projects benefit communities? The government's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme accepts bids from independent power producers.

The bids are assessed based on the tariffs the company will charge (worth 70% of the points) and on economic development (worth 30%). Economic development includes the creation of jobs for locals as well as enterprise and socio-economic development projects.

These are funded from a percentage of the revenue each renewable project earns from the sale of electricity to Eskom.