CEO Voice – May 2022

CEO Voice – May 2022

Dear Members

As our country continues to bare under the weight of strangled energy availability, we now expect BW5 preferred bidders to reach financial close by the end of June, or late September 2022, pushed out from end-April, which was just six months after the bidders announcement, in October last year. The original timeframe was actually very tight considering the complexity of the market and scale of the procurement process.

This is something that our Policies & Markets WG is unpacking, namely the ideal timeframe for projects to reach financial close, which needs to be short enough so that pricing from suppliers and contractors can be as close as possible to the pricing that was bid on, and long enough so that all permits, consents, and the Eskom budget quote can be obtained as well as for all agreements to be negotiated and finalised.

Preparations for #WindAc Africa 2022 (11-13 October) are already underway, with our call for students to apply for sponsorship already live on the WindAc Africa website.  The sponsorship covers the conference fee; travel and accommodation expenses; a student workshop; as well as the very popular networking event.

We bid farewell to Letlhogonolo Tsoai, Technical Programme Officer, who has been a valued member of our team over the last 2 years.  We have commenced the recruitment process for a Senior Technical Advisor, which is a key role as this person will lead the management of all SAWEA working groups, manage research objectives amongst other key functions.

Kind regards,
Niveshen Govender
CEO, South African Wind Energy Association