Juwi Renewable Energies (Pty) Ltd has announced its support for the Western Cape’s 110% Green campaign during a ceremony on World Environment Day held at the CTICC. As a flagship project, the juwi / Red Cross Children’s Hospital Project will provide the Hospital with free electricity from the sun for more than twenty years.
Hellen Zille, Premier of the Western Cape, says: “All the flagship projects are pioneers of us taking the first steps of the Western Cape into a future that is greener, more eco-friendly and more energy efficient. They will help us build a critical mass of active citizens who make the shift to “go green” and in so doing find new opportunities amidst what will be a difficult transition. This will ultimately contribute to realising our vision of a vibrant green economy in the Western Cape to advance growth and jobs.”
Being a new entrant to South Africa, juwi wished to demonstrate its goodwill and commitment to the positive progress of the renewable energy industry in this country. “Therefore, in acknowledgment of the good work of the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, we wish to provide an installation that would directly benefit the Hospital, and, therefore the vast communities that they serve,” says Teri Kruger, Director Stakeholder Relations at juwi. This project is a mutually beneficial partnership for a proposed period of 20 years whereby the Hospital will receive the clean power generated by the 5kWp roof top, photovoltaic plant to off-set some of their non-critical energy needs.
In addition, this installation is expected to accrue financial and carbon savings over and beyond this period as well as showcase the Hospital’s innovative stance through their adoption of new technologies. “We as a company wish to demonstrate our commitment as a socially responsible foreign investor and project developer whilst collecting crucial information through a multi-national research collaboration on the performance of the plant,” states Martin Goerner, joint Managing Director of juwi South Africa.
Dr. Linda Lungi from the Red Cross Children’s Hospital says: "I would like to thank juwi for selecting Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital as the beneficiary institution for the Flagship juwi Project. It is fitting that the Children’s Hospital has been chosen as the pilot site, as one of the core reasons for a green campaign is to make the environment sustainable for future generations to come. We’ve been in collaboration with juwi with is project for approximately a year and six months. It is really exciting to see that the project is finally becoming a reality and we are looking forward to the end result.“
juwi in collaboration with Hospital Management have already decided on the best location for the plant. The procurement process to supply and install the plant at no cost to the Hospital is underway. juwi and its research partners will furthermore support the Hospital with the knowledge transfer to operate and maintain this plant and hope to assist in the planning for future initiatives towards an energy efficient and greener footprint.
