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  A wheeling training for municipalities with over 120 participants took place on October 18 and 19, organised by EY in collaboration with Sustainable Energy Africa and the Western Cape Government. This training was based on a comprehensive guideline for third-party wheeling, developed by EY with support from municipal experts on behalf of the South African-German Energy Programme (SAGEN). Over 124 individuals attended the training, representing more than 30 municipalities within the electricity distribution industry (EDI).   The training began with an introduction to the concept of wheeling and its operational mechanisms. It provided an overview of the guideline's content, including key sections such as:   🔄 Basics of wheeling 📊 Benefits and barriers🚧 💰 Wheeling tariffs 📝 Necessary contracts and amendments 💳 Metering and billing fundamentals 🚀 Initiating wheeling with a pilot project   The guideline itself offers an in-depth resource covering all the relevant topics required by an EDI unit to commence wheeling. It is structured in a step-by-step format to guide municipalities through the implementation of wheeling and provide decision-makers at the local level with a foundational understanding.   Discussions and questions during the training revealed a significant interest among municipalities in the concept of wheeling. With an increasing number of renewable electricity producers and consumers looking to directly supply and purchase electricity using the public grid, wheeling has become a crucial element to foster competition, alleviate load shedding, and advance the electricity market. Efforts are underway to develop a national framework for wheeling, driven by NECOM, the National Energy Crisis Committee of the presidency, with substantial support from GIZ, as well as the National Regulation Authority of South Africa (NERSA).   For more information on wheeling and access to the presentations and recordings, please visit: https://lnkd.in/d3h-eJVG   ________________________________________________________________________________   SAGEN collaborates with South African partners to support the country’s transition to a reliable, affordable and clean energy future. SAGEN is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), co-funded by SECO Economic Cooperation and Development and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in cooperation with the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, the National Treasury of South Africa, Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd, the South African Local Government Association and Sanedi.org. #EnergyRegulation #ElectricityMarket #JET #Wheeling #RenewableEnergy #Municipalities #EnergySecurity #EnergyTransition #Training #Webinar 💻 About SAGEN: www.sagen.org.za 🐥 SAGEN Twitter: https://lnkd.in/dwbGVCmH 🖥 Third Party Electricity Wheeling: https://lnkd.in/dPfdSTgb  

Despite the employment boom in renewable energy worldwide, green jobs are growing twice as fast as workers with green skills. There is an urgent need to reform education and scale up investment in clean energy education to address growing skills gaps. It is required that universities, governments, private donors and international organizations such as REN21, International Energy Agency (IEA), International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), UN Environment Programme and others join efforts to improve education for renewable energy industries worldwide. See my new article with World Economic Forum: https://lnkd.in/gc7VSnrV #energytransition #highereducation #renewableenergyjobs #climateaction  #education #renewableenergy #cleanenergy #universities #climatechange  #sdg4 #sdg7 #UN

The current energy sector challenges are complex and require a multi-faceted approach to solve. While youth can certainly play a role in addressing these challenges, it will require collaboration and support from a variety of stakeholders. Young people bring fresh perspectives, innovative ideas, and a willingness to embrace new technologies that can help drive the transition to a more sustainable energy future. However, they will also need support and mentorship from experienced professionals in the industry, as well as investment in education and training programs that can equip them with the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in the sector. With the right support and resources, youth can make a significant contribution to solving the energy sector's challenges, from developing new renewable energy technologies to improving energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

SOUTH AFRICA LOOKS TO AUSTRIA FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY INNOVATION AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING AS AVAILABILITY DETERIORATES TO 55.30% South Africa’s Minister of International Relations, Naledi Pandor, says Austria is a natural partner for her country’s quest for technological capability in renewable energy, and she is also keen to establish a memorandum of understanding in the field of Vocational Training. Pandor received her Austrian counterpart, Alexander Schallenberg, for bilateral talks in the South African capital Pretoria on Thursday. Schallenberg’s visit came a day after Eskom – the country’s power utility - published its interim results for the six month–period ended 30 September 2023. The results show that Africa’s biggest economy continues to struggle with power generation and load shedding. “Energy availability factor (EAF) deteriorated to 55.30% resulting in frequent implementation of loadshedding” said Eskom’s report. In addition, South Africa, like other countries of the world is striving to produce more green energy, but Eskom says its renewable and short-term independent power producer programmes produced 8.9TWh, and delivered about 2.7TWh less than target, contributing to the generation capacity shortfall. Eskom says its challenges include local government debt that had escalated to ZAR70 billion due to non-payment of electricity supply by municipalities, and its distribution network performance remained stable while Transmission performance experienced a decline. So Minister Pandor believes Austria can contribute towards turning the tide for her country. “South Africa appreciates Austria’s global standing, reputation and advanced technological capability in the renewable energy space, which make Austria a natural partner for South Africa.  Austria is renowned for its vocational training and South Africa is keen to engage the Austrian government on the possibilities of establishing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Austria in the field of Vocational Training.” Despite the challenges, Pandor says South Africa welcomes the growing overall trade between the two countries as well as the rising tourism numbers from Austria, and appreciates the valuable contribution that Austrian companies are making in South Africa, particularly in job creation, skills development and technology transfer. Minister Schallenberg has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Arts and Culture with South Africa’s Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Zizi Kodwa, during the opening of the Austrian Cultural Forum in Pretoria – and Pandor says this is “a further illustration of our increased bilateral and people-to people cooperation.” The main areas cooperation between the two countries are: renewable energy, wastewater treatment, recycling and organic agriculture, innovation/digitalization, and environmental technologies. Photo by Schütz Edgar/APA Austrian Embassy Pretoria Romana Königsbrun ADVANTAGE AUSTRIA in South Africa KTM AG Red Bull

"As a young Indigenous person, I see myself with the responsibility to guide all members of my community in the proper use of waste through lectures, training, and preparation from childhood to grow up with a sense of belonging to our environment. [Also, looking] for ways to implement mini projects for the use of waste generated by the community, and that is a benefit to the whole community." - Rosalía Florez Palmar. Rosalía Florez Palmar, a member of the Indigenous Wayuu community in Colombia, participated in a workforce training program sponsored by USAID's Scaling Up Renewable Energy program implemented by Tetra Tech International Development. Read more about her experiences in this recent interview: https://lnkd.in/exJjpJq8

Check out Engineering news article echoing emphasis on skills development. https://lnkd.in/d2zs-K78 shortage-poses-major-challenge-to-sectors-growth-2023-06-22 Collaboration among stakeholders, including online training, is vital for bridging the skills gap. We recognize the diverse skill set required in renewables, from technical to marketing and policy expertise. Raising awareness, especially in rural areas, is equally crucial. Let's work together to shape, uplift and build a sustainable future for all. 💚🌍 #womeninenergy #thepursuitofexcellence

Universities worldwide still produce more workers for fossil fuels than for renewable energy industries 68% of the world’s energy educational degrees are focused on fossil fuels, and only 32% on renewable energy. That gap is closing, though not nearly fast enough given the rapidly growing need for skilled clean energy workers A successful transition will leave millions of workers stranded with the wrong skills. The authors want universities and policy makers to channel public and private funding – that now goes into supporting education in fossil fuels – towards renewable energy. By Roman Vakulchuk & Indra Overland https://lnkd.in/g9yN-jjJ

UNIDO Seeks NASENI Collaboration on Renewable Energy Solutions & Industrial Development of Nigeria The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is seeking the collaboration of National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) #UNIDOSeeksNASENICollaborationonRenewableEnergySolutions&IndustrialDevelopmentofNigeria