eseed Index Note from the Editor 1. The impact of embedded, 2. Durban low-carbon modelling 3. Experiences, opportunities and

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1 Newsletter of Sustainable Energy Africa (SEA) and its City Energy Support Unit (CESU) eseed Note from the Editor There has been a dearth of eseed newsletters over the past year due to the completion of Sustainable Energy Africa s (SEA) award-winning SEED (Sustainable Energy for Environment and Development) project after 12 years. Exciting sustainable energy initiatives have, nevertheless, continued under the banner of SEA s City Energy Support Unit. The City Energy Support Unit (CESU), initially supported by the British High Commission, was established in 2009 to support South African cities in their transition to clean energy development and reduced carbon footprints, through initiatives in energy efficiency, renewable energy and energy poverty alleviation. CESU has received grant funding from EED (German Church Development Service) for core activities over the next 3 years, starting in March To extend the work to a greater range of activities, funding has also been sourced from REEEP, DANIDA and EEP. The sourcing of co-funding is an ongoing business, to keep the unit up and running. The EED funding is utilised to continue the eseed newsletter. The major areas of work that have been undertaken under the banner of CESU over the past year have included low-carbon modelling, efficient spatial and development planning, and technical support on renewable energy, energy efficiency and the electrification of informal settlements. The approach has been one of knowledge-sharing and information-dissemination through network meetings, workshops, training, and information materials and guides. CESU also provides support to national municipal-related programmes such as the Department of Energy s Energy Efficiency and Demand Side Management programme and the South African Local Government Association s Energy Efficiency programme. The major focus is on large metros, chosen due to the fact that they consume large amounts of energy. CESU has also worked with other, smaller municipalities where there is need and enthusiasm. Index 1. The impact of embedded, small-scale renewable energy on munipical revenue 2. Durban low-carbon modelling 3. Experiences, opportunities and challenges of electrification of informal settlements 4. Over 100,000 solar water heaters for Cape Town 5. Efficient public lighting guide for local government 6. Technical support document for local government on council upgrade projects 7. Green procurement guide for local government 8. Urban agriculture as a resilience strategy for cities 9. Low-carbon planning with the National Planning Commission 10. State of energy data for all Western Cape municipalities 11. Integrating climate change into municipal Integrated Development Plans 12. Construction commences on South Africa s largest wind farm to date a south african sustainable energy and climate protection initiative

2 1. The impact of embedded, small-scale renewable energy on municipal revenue It is increasingly apparent that our energy future requires the strategic engagement of local distributors in considering appropriate energy mixes, promoting local renewable energy generation and facilitating distributed renewable energy generation. A number of programmes and processes have been initiated by government in this regard: the national Department of Energy s small-scale renewable energy programme, REBID and the recent National Energy Regulator (NERSA) guideline on conditions for small-scale (less than 100kW) embedded generation within municipal boundaries. These developments pose a new set of policy, technical and financial challenges. Two renewable energy-focused workshops were convened by Sustainable Energy Africa in partnership with SALGA (South African Local Governments Association), with funding from EED (German Church Development Service) and DANIDA (Danish International Development Agency). The first workshop, held in March 2012, was in response to a call from a number of cities for a working session to share distributed renewable energy generation experience (technical issues, costs, procurement and resources) and work towards establishing standard small-scale embedded generation implementation procedures for municipalities until such time as the formal standards were issued. The second workshop was held in July Part 1 of the workshop focused on the Eskom Standard Offer Programme incentive for Renewable Energy Small-Scale Embedded Generation and how it links with cities work in this area. The objective was to share information and ensure that the Eskom and municipal efforts are mutually supportive as far as possible. Part 2 of the workshop comprised a brief presentation of the municipal load profile and revenue analysis being undertaken by Sustainable Energy Africa. A spreadsheet tool had been developed that assessed the load profile and revenue impact of mass energy efficiency and small scale renewable energy implementation on municipalities. The objective was to share interim results and obtain input from municipalities on how the spreadsheet model could be developed further to be of most use to them. Load profile analysis paper and article A paper on the load profile analysis tool and the results were presented at the AMEU (Association of Municipal Electricity Undertaking) conference. It is available for download here: A clear summary article by Urban Earth on the issues contained in the load profile analysis paper can be found here: Key points highlighted: The Inclining Block Tariff ensures that high-end residential electricity users pay more for electricity than low-end users. Revenue from high-end users is used to subsidise the low-end, poor customers, who receive free basic electricity. Typically 10% of annual electricity revenue generated is fed into city coffers to subsidise a range of municipal services. High-end residential users, under pressure from escalating electricity prices, may consider the installation of small-scale renewable energy, e.g. solar PV and solar water heaters. A decrease in revenue from high-end users decreases the money available for cross-subsidisation of the poor. Increasing the tariff for high-end users, in order to provide for the cross-subsidy, will only accelerate implementation of efficiency measures in the high-end residential sector.

3 Screengrab of load profile and revenue impact analysis spreadsheet model A presentation on the same theme was given by Hilton Trollip, a principal engineer in the Energy and Climate Change Unit at the City of Cape Town, at the South African Economic Regulation Conference. The presentation is also available here:

4 2. Durban low-carbon modelling A LEAP (Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning) model was developed for ethekwini Municipality, with funding from the German Church Development Service, to illustrate the carbon and energy use implications of different renewable energy and energy efficiency interventions and to clarify a viable set of sustainable energy implementation objectives. Scenarios included business as usual, aggressive energy efficiency, renewable energy electricity supply and a transport modal shift towards public transport. This built on similar work previously undertaken for the City of Cape Town. An output example from the ethekwini LEAP model

5 3. Experiences, opportunities and challenges of electrification of informal settlements Sustainable Energy Africa (SEA) brought together leading experts in informal settlement electrification. Based on an on-site walk-through and practical discussions at an informal settlement in ethekwini, a document titled Informal Electrification in South Africa: Experience, Opportunities and Challenges was compiled by SEA, in partnership with Professor Trevor Gaunt (Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Cape Town), Malcolm Salida (Western Cape Province, Electrification in Human Settlements Department) and Roger Macfarlane (ex-eskom and City of Cape Town Electrification Department). This work was funded by the German EED (Church Development Service) programme and Danish International Development Assistance. The document outlines the experiences, opportunities and lessons learnt in the electrification of informal settlements in South Africa. Key topics Context/challenges in informal settlement electrification Approaches to electrification Technical options for informal settlement electrification Community engagement recommendations and best practice Reviewing current tariffs with respect to current context and conditions of supplying electricity Case study Relevant reference documents The document can be found here: 04

6 4. Over 100,000 solar water heaters for Cape Town 5. Efficient public lighting guide for local government The City of Cape Town is currently in the first phase of a two-phase tender process to roll out 144,000 solar water heaters across the city. The project aim is to appoint a service provider that will supply solar water heaters at a monthly repayment cost that is less than the monthly savings realised through decreased use of electricity for water heating. The City is setting up the legal and billing system that will facilitate the collection of the monthly solar water heater payments through the electricity billing system. A large communication and awarenessraising programme will be integrated into the project. New staff members have been appointed to run the Programme Management Unit (PMU). An efficient public lighting guide was produced by Sustainable Energy Africa, with funding from REEEP, and in partnership with the Department of Energy and the South African Local Government Association. The guide is in support of the national Department of Energy s Energy Efficiency and Demand-Side Management programme and Eskom s Integrated Demand-Side Management programme; both of which support the retrofitting of existing public lighting with electricity efficient options. The guide offers an introductory overview of a range of traffic, street and public building lighting efficient retrofit options; comparing technologies, capital and operating costs, and electricity savings potential. The efficient public lighting guide can be found here: To this end SEA has provided technical and administrative support to the City for the project, and has secured funding to pay the salaries of the PMU staff, fund the first phase of the communications campaign and secure specialised institutional and international support.

7 6. Technical support document for local government on council upgrade projects 7. Green procurement guide for local government A document titled Assessment of Efficient Water Heating Options for Cape Town Rental Housing Upgrade programme was produced by Sustainable Energy Africa early last year for the City of Cape Town. It compares the technical and financial feasibility, and the peak load impact of heat pumps and solar water heaters when compared to electric geysers. It also outlines potential sources of funding for these efficient water heating options. The document is available for download at the City Energy Support Unit website at: Governments are among the largest consumers in an economy. The public sector on average spends 45%-65% of their budgets on procurement. Given this substantial purchasing power, governments have enormous leverage to stimulate and drive markets for sustainable production and consumption when they make a determined effort to purchase green products and services. Adopting such an approach is a smart form of procuring goods and service it not only improves the efficiency of public procurement, but also uses the public market power to bring about significant environmental and socio-economic benefits. Green Procurement: a guide for local government was produced by Sustainable Energy Africa, with funding from DANIDA, to provide an overview and guide on how municipalities can integrate resource efficiency considerations into existing public procurement policy and procedures. Topics covered in the green procurement guide: What is green procurement? Why go the route of green procurement? Relevant national and local policy direction relating to green procurement (i.e. the regulatory framework for procurement in the public sector) Identifying green goods and services A step-by-step guide on green procurement implementation, based on case studies Solutions to potential challenges Green procurement resources and websites The guide can be found here: ing-energy

8 8. Urban agriculture as a resilience strategy for cities 9. Low-carbon planning with the National Planning Commission The world s food and agricultural systems are amongst the foremost contributors to human-induced climate change; accounting for 26-33% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The links between food systems, energy, food insecurity and climate change are closely connected and often difficult to separate. The latest SEED (Sustainable Energy for Environment and Development) Update on Urban Agriculture unpacks these links. It also highlights the benefits of, and provides examples and studies on, urban agriculture. The SEED Update can be found here: The National Planning Commission (NPC), set up in 2010, was tasked with developing a vision statement and National Development Plan for the country. The NPC desired sector-specific stakeholder meetings to facilitate discussion and ideas on what should be included in the low-carbon chapter of the Plan. Sustainable Energy Africa received funding from the British High Commissions and the Norwegian Ministry to assist the NPC in this endeavour. The aim was to provide a platform for the country to grapple with the key issues and challenges of transitioning to a low carbon economy. This was to be achieved through a number of activities (workshops, roundtables, opinion pieces and engagements with stakeholders) to inform the low-carbon transition in general and the NPC s longterm plan in particular. Our previous newsletter (November 2011) covered the initial stakeholder workshops. Two large multi-stakeholder workshops took place in early- to mid-2011, followed by 4 smaller roundtables focusing on sector-specific engagement with government, civil society, labour and industry. The final workshop with all sectors negotiated a set of assumptions, principles and next steps for the NPC to take into its planning process, as well as areas of divergence to be taken forward as part of the stakeholder engagement with the first draft Plan. The purpose was to reach some consensus on what the NPC should include in the low-carbon chapter of the Plan. Following the release of the first draft of the National Development Plan, a series of intergovernmental and roundtable meetings were held on themes relevant to both the Climate Change Response White Paper and the first draft of the Plan. These meetings informed the redrafting of the National Development Plan. Workshops were not organised in traditional conference format, with many presentations, but rather allowed space for facilitated debate and engagement. 07

9 2012 Meetings 7 March: Minerals and energy complex roundtable: Can South Africa maximise the potential economic benefits of its extraordinary minerals endowment, whilst reducing the energy and carbon intensity of its economy? Discussions were based on predictions of emissions trajectories from the South African mining and minerals processing sectors and focused on the role of these sectors in the transition to a low-carbon economy 4 April: Policy and infrastructure carbon lock-in roundtable: assess and understand whether South Africa s policy, planning and regulatory environment, along with current infrastructure expenditure, is likely to lock the country into an emissions trajectory that is misaligned to its mitigation ambition and to understand barriers to removing the lock-ins. 5 April: Carbon budgets roundtable: identify options of how to divide up a national carbon budget. A process of carbon budgeting involves the allocation of a limited resource, which should be based on equity and science that sits at or under a greenhouse gas trajectory. 7 April: Carbon pricing roundtable: Input by National Treasury, on proposed carbon tax, and DNA Economics, on carbon tax design options. 16 April: Mitigation targets and fact base roundtable: Earlier roundtables highlighted the need to build a stronger evidence base and provide reliable and transparent data in order to inform actions around climate change. The National Development Plan identifies this as a concern. The data and assumptions used in different studies or policy planning have varied considerably and an understanding of this is important going forward. 19 April & 4 May: Two civil society and labour roundtables: Both civil society workshops followed a similar format - a presentation on the draft Plan by the NPC Secretariat, followed by respondents and then a discussion. 27 August: Regional integration workshop: This two-day workshop was held after the release of the final National Development Plan and was organised by the NPC, using donor funding. The aim was to understand national development planning processes and their contribution to regional integration. The intention was to come up with practical ideas and ways of working together; developing co-operation projects. Inputs were given by representatives from Namibia, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, DRC and Swaziland. Research papers and workshop inputs were provided by DNA Economics, the Energy Intensive Users Group, the Energy Research Centre (UCT), Imbewu Sustainable Legal Specialists, the Industry Task Team on Climate Change, National Treasury and The Green House. Sustainable Energy Africa held an overall facilitation and organisation role. The ability to bring together high-level decision-makers on such a consistent basis has been unique and shows that there is a need for this form of debate going forward. Some participants stated that the NPC workshops and roundtable engagements played a significant role in securing consensus and building effective solutions; assisting in providing new insights and approaches that had not been discussed previously. Participants, in particular those from the industry sector, have made it clear that they valued these meetings and would like to see more such discussions and debate into the future. The National Development Plan was adopted by Cabinet in September Chapters 4 and 5 contain views and information obtained from the research papers, discussion documents and the outcomes of the various stakeholder engagements.

10 10. State of energy data for all Western Cape municipalities Sustainable Energy Africa produced an Energy Consumption and waste- and energy-related Greenhouse Gas Emissions Database, which was commissioned by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning of the Western Cape Government. The focus was on energy demand (consumption) data and waste volumes, but energy supply data was drawn on to fill any demand/consumption data gaps and act as a cross-check. The database was developed to support the strategic intentions of the Western Cape Government, specifically in relation to the Western Cape Climate Change Response Strategy and Action Plan and the White Paper on Sustainable Energy for the Western Cape. It is widely acknowledged that effecting climate change response, as well as managing energy towards reducing poverty and emissions and enhancing security, relies substantially on input and action at the local and regional government level. The exception to the above is the West Coast, where the industrial sector consumes the most energy (87%). The West Coast is the industrial hub of the Western Cape, with energy-intensive industries such as Saldanha Steel located in the area. This has resulted in a carbon emissions per capita footprint four times higher than the provincial and national average (32 vs. 8 tonnes/capita). Electricity consumption is responsible for a disproportionate amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, due to the fact that it comes from dirty coal-fired plants. As an example: in the Eden district, electricity accounts for 34% of all energy used, but 66% of GHG emissions. Though the transport sector generally consumes the most energy in a district, the residential and commercial sectors contribute to a proportionally greater amount of GHG emissions due to their use of electricity, as opposed to liquid fuel. Example: in Overberg the transport, residential and commercial sectors consume 57%, 12% and 13% of energy respectively; but produce 26%, 22% and 24% of GHG emissions respectively. The Eden and Karoo districts have the highest energy poverty level in the Western Cape, based on the percentage of dirty/unhealthy fuels (e.g. paraffin, wood, coal) used as the primary fuel for space heating and cooking in low-income households. Data for a 2009 baseline year (5 years on from the previous study) was collected for the Cape Town metro and all 24 local municipalities in the Western Cape Province, with a particular set of sustainable energy indicators in mind. These indicators draw on local, national and international practice and provide measures against which to track and monitor energy security, energy access and equity/poverty issues, emissions levels associated with energy consumption and sustainable energy development. Examples of some interesting findings: The transport sector is generally responsible for the bulk of a district s energy usage. In the Central Karoo it contributes to 85% of all energy use. This is due to the fact that the N1 national highway runs through the area and many vehicles fill up with fuel en route to their destination.

11 11. Integrating climate change into municipal Integrated Development Plans 12. Construction commences on South Africa s largest wind farm to date Sustainable Energy African and the Palmer Development Group produced a practical step-bystep toolkit and guide on how to integrate climate change into municipal Integrated Development Plans. The work was commissioned by the national Department of Environmental Affairs, with funding from GIZ, and was piloted in 5 local municipalities. What is an Integrated Development Plan (IDP)? An Integrated Development Plan gives an overall framework for development of an area; taking into account economic and social development, existing conditions and problems, and resources available for development. Municipal planning and projects, and the annual council budget, must be based on the IDP. All municipalities have to produce an Integrated Development Plan (IDP), based on stakeholder consultation. The IDP has a lifespan of 5 years and is reviewed every year. For electronic copies of the guide and toolkit, please contact Zane Abdul at zane.abdul@giz.de. Mainstream Renewable Energy broke ground at the Jeffreys Bay wind farm in the Eastern Cape on 4th February The wind farm will consist of 60 wind turbines totalling 138 MW capacity; the largest wind farm in South Africa to date. It is the first facility in the country to start construction using government's Renewable Energy Independent Power Procurement Programme. Once in operation by mid-2014, the wind farm is expected to generate about 460,000 MWh of electricity per year, enough to sustain the energy needs of homes. Two hundred construction jobs and 11 full-time jobs will be created. The community will benefit from the project through a 6% share which will be paid to a community trust. The wind farm is owned by a consortium of local and international organisations consisting of Globeleq, Mainstream Renewable Power, Old Mutual, Thebe Investment Corporation, engineering firms Enzani Technologies and Usizo Engineering and a local community trust. Mainstream s Leila Mahomed-Weideman, Leo Quinn and Martina Flanagan at the Jeffreys Bay ceremony. Leila is also a non-executive board member of Sustainable Energy Africa.

12 Contact Details Sustainable Energy Africa 9B Bell Crescent Close Westlake Business Park, Tokai Cape Town South Africa 7945 Tel + 27 (0) Fax + 27 (0) Please let me know if you would like to be removed from the list or suggest recipients to whom eseed would be of interest. You can also send news of projects relating to housing, environment and energy in which you are involved. Comments and suggestions are welcome. Zanie Cilliers zanie@sustainable.org.za