USTDA Expands Commitment to Renewable Energy Development in South Africa
June 6, 2014
(USTDA)
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA– Today, U.S. Trade and Development Agency Director
Leocadia I. Zak signed grants for three renewable energy projects in South
Africa.
"USTDA remains committed to fostering sustainable economic growth in South
Africa," said Director Zak. "These activities support South Africa's goal of
meeting energy demands by increasing generation capacity from renewable energy
sources."
This morning, Director Zak hosted a roundtable in Johannesburg for public and
private sector stakeholders from the U.S. and South African solar power sectors.
The event provided attendees the opportunity to share lessons learned from past
efforts and to discuss both current challenges and future opportunities. During
the roundtable, Director Zak signed a grant agreement with Ample Solar for a
project that will evaluate the use of Areva Solar's (Mountain View, CA)
innovative technology at two concentrated solar power plants that Ample Solar is
planning to build in the Northern Cape.
Director Zak later signed a grant to Basil Read Energy to assist their efforts
to develop a run-of-river hydropower plant that would supply electricity for
more than 75,000 households. The project, which Basil Read plans to submit as
part of its bid in an upcoming round of South Africa's Renewable Energy
Independent Power Producer Procurement Program, will help diversify the
country's energy mix and reduce environmental emissions.
USTDA also finalized a grant agreement with Plessey, a leading South African
telecommunications solutions provider, to fund a pilot project on U.S. fuel cell
technology applications for use by the telecom industry in South Africa. The
project will enable Oorja Protonics (Fremont, CA) to demonstrate the usage of
methanol-powered fuel cells as the primary or secondary power supply at remote
telecom tower sites that are currently powered by diesel fuel generators. The
use of these cost-effective fuel cells, which are 40% more energy efficient than
diesel generation, would significantly reduce carbon dioxide and other noxious
emissions.
Each of these projects is being funded under the U.S.-Africa Clean Energy
Finance Initiative, an innovative U.S. government effort to catalyze private
sector investment for clean energy projects in sub-Saharan Africa by supporting
early-stage project development.
Welcome to the Exporting Source
Your one-stop resource for finding help to export to new customers, to learn about government export programs, to join export-promoting trade missions, to sign up for trade conferences and training, and to link to other exporting services. Whether you're an old hand at exporting or just getting started, the Exporting Source provides a place to locate foreign customers, export financing and foreign investment assistance.