LETTER: Imported solar panels will do nothing to ease SA’s unemployment

I refer to the R18bn Scatec battery storage project (“Standard Bank helps fund SA’s biggest renewable energy and battery storage project,” July 20). This project unnecessarily bypasses more SA labour by relying on imported batteries, solar panels, copper, lithium and cobalt. This, despite the fact that we are the most unemployed nation on earth.

By comparison, coal-powered electricity employs SA labour, resources and infrastructure and is priced in rand rather than foreign currencies. This has already proved to be a disaster in our dollar-denominated arms deal, which doubled its cost. This can happen to green projects too.

The trend of SA banks refusing to fund coal power on environmental grounds is heartbreaking. The time has come to join Germany and China, which are building modern, less polluting coal power stations.

This can be done by independent power producers building coal power stations, in competition with Eskom. Public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan can make this more lucrative by decommissioning Eskom’s oldest power stations when newer ones are ready.

The influence of the “just energy transition”, environmental, social and governance (ESG) scores and the wilful handover of our energy independence is worrying. Funders should never forget that the surest way to reduce carbon-induced climate change is not purchasing foreign solar panels, but planting trees.

Hitesh Naran
Via email

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