A training academy that will supply SA’s fast growing solar energy industry with skilled workers will open its doors to the public next year.
The centre is the result of a partnership formed earlier this year between South32, an Australian mining and metals company with a secondary listing on the JSE and assets in SA, and local renewables business Solana Energy.
The training academy is based in Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal where South32’s Hillside Alluminium smelter is located.
As the solar power market in SA expands, which it is expected to do at a rapid pace over the next few years, the demand for skilled workers for this sector is increasing.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Ahmed Motara, head of business development at Solana Energy, said the solar market in SA is expected to grow by 29% for the next five years. Each megawatt of new installed solar energy will create about 40 jobs along the solar value chain.
“Based on this, the solar PV industry is expected to create between 38,000 and 40,000 energy jobs per year between 2023 and 2030. By 2030 the market will also be supporting about 11,000 operations and maintenance jobs per year.
“Feeding into this demand for skills resources is absolutely essential,” Motara said.
The training academy has its formal launch on Thursday. It will offer both practical and theoretical training focusing on areas such as solar installation, the maintenance of solar systems, solar system design and energy auditing.
Candidates who complete courses in solar installation, for example, will be able to take the SA Photovoltaic Industry Association’s PV GreenCard exam. This is a locally developed, industry-led quality label which can be used by installers registered in the PV GreenCard database to declare compliance with relevant standard and safety guidelines for PV installations.
Courses will be open to the public from 2023 with the focus on demand-led skills training to make sure the academy feeds directly into projects already under development in the country, said Motara.
The project is funded from enterprise and supplier development funds (ESD) allocated by South32 for SME development in the region using credit and structuring expertise provided by Absa.
The value of the project is not being disclosed. In its Sustainable Development Report for 2022 the company noted that ESD spend in SA more than tripled in 2022 from the previous year to $17m.
The partnership between South32 and Solana also includes the rollout of multiple primary generation projects in the Richards Bay area.
This will involve the establishment of solar power infrastructure in the Richards Bay and King Cetshwayo district economic regions which is expected to add 2MW to 2.5MW of renewable energy capacity to the local grid before the end of 2023.
This will help businesses that supply Hillside Aluminium to start seeing the benefits of renewable electricity, said Talhah Patel, senior finance manager at South32.
Patel called the project an example of “ESD-work in action”.
“Transformation and BEE has probably lost a lot of its shine because many companies treat it as a tick-box compliance exercise, or you hear of corruption being linked to BEE transactions and deals,” said Patel.
However, he said, the project by South32 and Solana Energy demonstrates how “BEE can be done, when you take the BEE policy, and you meet it with meaningful intent and you translate that into action”.
“The impact it can have on ordinary South Africans is really significant,” Patel said.
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