Power crisis fosters growth of green industries

The country’s power crisis is possibly the biggest challenge to business in the Western Cape, according to Janine Myburgh, president of the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “Estimates are that stage one load shedding costs business R6 billion a month, stage two R12 billion and stage three R24 billion,” she said. “These are national figures but the Western Cape probably accounts for 11% of these losses. “When businesses sustain losses on this scale job losses are inevitable.” In addition, said Myburgh, major new projects were being postponed until energy security returned and foreign investors would inevitably look elsewhere for more secure places to build their factories. On the positive side, however, the energy crisis has provided a great incentive for green industries which have the potential to create new jobs and possibly even products for export. “We are fortunate in that the Cape Town City Council has been the first local authority to allow its electricity consumers to install solar panels and feed their surplus electricity back into the grid,” she said. Whilst the Western Cape was holding up well in the current tough economic environment – and arguably slightly better than the rest of the country – finding longterm solutions to the energy crisis was essential said Myburgh. INSERT & CAPTION Major new projects are being postponed until energy security returns and foreign investors will inevitably look elsewhere. – Janine Myburgh