Trade, Industry and Competition Minister, Ebrahim Patel, will on Thursday launch the Energy One Stop Shop and Energy Resilience Fund.
As part of the Energy Mitigation Strategy through the National Energy Crisis Committee, President Cyril Ramaphosa has tasked Invest South Africa to establish an Energy One Stop Shop to deal with and fast track applications from energy developers.
The Energy One Stop Shop is expected to input to the streamlining of regulatory processes required for private investment in electricity generation, facilitate pre-investment screening for all energy projects and thereby fast-tracking the approval of energy applications.
“This is to be achieved through timely intervention on blockages and red tape and consequently reduce both the time and cost of getting energy projects onto the grid,” the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) said in a statement.
The requirement for predictable energy availability has led the dtic to formulate a series of interventions, including alternative energy generation solutions, storage and efficiency measures, aimed at supporting businesses to become energy resilient.
This led to the establishment of a R1.3 billion Energy Resilience Scheme that will be deployed through the dtic, the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and the National Empowerment Fund (NEF). The scheme comprises targeted funding solutions for businesses affected by load shedding, including those operating in the townships and rural areas, and to support the localisation of inputs.
The department availed R240 million - R140 million to be administered by the IDC under the Manufacturing Competitiveness Enhancement Programme (MCEP) Energy Resilience Fund to support companies through interest free loans and R150 million to be deployed in partnership with the National Empowerment Fund (NEF) to support businesses operating in townships. – SAnews.gov.za
