Buffalo City mayor Xola Pakati led a high-powered delegation to China last week to view the production plant of a solar energy provider that is expected to build something similar in Berlin later this year.
Viewing Sumec Energy Holding’s plant in Nanjing served as a taste of what is to come, as the BCM council gave the go-ahead last month for a similar plant to be built in the metro. The project is expected to create more than 1,000 jobs.
The trip, organised between the Buffalo City Development Agency and Sumec, an energy solutions company which is based in Nanjing, comes as SA’s economy reels in the throes of rolling mass blackouts amid the gutted power utility Eskom’s twin technical and financial crises.
Pakati’s spokesman Luzuko Buku said the purpose of the visit was to strengthen co-operation between the development agency and Sumec, a leading global provider of clean energy solutions, “with the possibility of establishing a solar power plant project in the city”.
Asked about existing twinning agreements signed and sealed and how much such an investment would be, Buku said: “The discussions are at a very delicate stage and we therefore would not want to release the details to the public at this moment.
“They should, however, be understood as part of the efforts of the city in attracting investment through having co-operation and partnerships with various Chinese cities.”
The Daily Dispatch reported last month on the council’s resolution to give the go-ahead for a R1.3bn, 60-megawatt solar energy plant which would be built in the small town of Berlin, to lift some pressure from the troubled power utility Eskom power grid.
The project, an initiative of Thezi-langa, would see construction of the photovoltaic power plant begin in July on a 233ha piece of land. The project, in the pipeline for five years, is scheduled for completion in 2020.
Buku said Sumec, working closely with the East London IDZ, would bring BCM ratepayers cheaper electricity and a massive revenue of R2.6bn for the metro over a period of 20 years.
The delegation also explored additional opportunities to expand foreign direct investment in the metro and enhance value chain development in the renewable energy space in line with the provincial sustainable energy strategy...