As the Integrated Resource Plan is at last released, now with a generous allocation for wind and solar power, the government has made it clear that it expects the renewable energy industry to contribute more to SA’s development.

 At a recent wind industry gathering in Cape Town, mineral resources and energy minister Gwede Mantashe told delegates they had to play a significant part in the industrialisation agenda.

The climate change issue aside, Mantashe said renewable technologies could create the “green economy” jobs that are needed. A big portion of the renewables allocation in the plan is localised, with industrialisation being the imperative for transformation, he said...