East Cape ever ready to be valuable source of clean energy for SA

Sipho Masondo BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT masondos@avusa.co.za

GLOBAL warming and the local power crisis have opened up a window of export opportunities for a Port Elizabeth company to supply the international community with wind turbines.

Countries like China, the United States of America, United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Australia and other African nations are now generating renewable energy – thanks to award-winning wind turbines from Kestrel, a subsidiary of Eveready, which is based in Struandale.

Manufacturing and exporting the micro-wind turbines, a unique technology that optimises renewable energy generation, has set the company on an award-winning streak.

Last week Kestrel bagged the entrepreneurial award of The Herald-Absa Eastern Cape Exporter of the Year held at the Boardwalk‘s Tsitsikamma Conference Centre.

In June the company, which is the only micro-turbine manufacturer in South Africa that has developed unique technologies into exportable quality products, scooped two awards in the Proudly SA awards sponsored by PetroSA.

It was named company of the year in both the corporate category and innovations category.

Of the turbines, Kestrel‘s managing director Sharad Saxena said: “Our product has been received favourably by the market because of quality and the machines‘ performance.”

Eveready acquired and relocated Kestrel from Gauteng in Benoni in 2006. “Then we had about 10 employees, but now we have grown to a staff complement of 50. So, this is not just about Eveready, but we also provide people with employment and grow the skills base of the Eastern Cape,” Saxena said.

The turbines can range between six and 18 metres high, and the transformers come in four different sizes with the capacity to produce 600, 800, 1000 and 3000 watts. They cost between R10000 and R50000, and can easily be mounted on the side or roof of any building.

Just like the government is subsidising people who buy solar geysers to reduce energy consumption, Saxena says it should subsidise people who want to generate electricity through turbines.

“There is an opportunity here ... not only to create employment, but to play our part in fighting global warming too. People will be needed to install, maintain and distribute the turbines.”

With eco-friendly energy being the buzzword world-wide, Saxena said South Africa has an abundant supply of wind, especially the coast stretching from Cape Town to the Wild Coast, and is perfectly placed to start generating energy out of wind and other renewable sources.

South Africa‘s only wind farm is in Darlington in the Western Cape and consists of four turbines of 1,3 MW capacity generating a total of 5,2 MW of clean energy. There are talks of another one in Jeffreys Bay, but there is nothing tangible.

“More than 90% of local power comes from coal, and this is a huge problem. We all have to move towards reducing carbon emissions. We at Eveready believe in green, clean solutions,” Saxena said.

It was unfortunate, he said, that the turbines were more popular overseas than locally. “We have participated in the biggest wind trade fairs in Germany and the US.

“We also have been to overseas trade missions and no one believes that South Africa can make such good products.”