With unemployment rates recently measured at around 25%, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is giving grants to help national companies upgrade their production. Furthermore, they will compensate qualifying foreign investors for the cost of moving new machinery and equipment to South Africa.

These initiatives match with the findings of the recently published CSP Today Markets Report 2014. The report states that the most important barriers for local companies to enter the CSP market in South Africa are the inability to compete with experienced international manufacturers and raw material costs being too high.

For CSP, the local content requirement for the first round of the REIPPPP was 21% and no South African company had a majority of the ownership. In the last round this was raised to 40% and Emvelo, a South African developer, was one of the two successful CSP bidders. Emvelo’s CEO, Pancho Ndebele, recently told CSP Today that “the program has seen an increase in localisation targets, and jobs and economic opportunities are being created outside the golden triangle: Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.”

Organisations like the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) are working to overcome the barriers of entry for local companies. Ashley Bughwandin, Technology Localisation Manager at CSIR, will identify the localisation opportunities in the supply chain at CSP Today South Africa 2014 (8-9 April, Cape Town) and examine how South Africa is building a workforce to support the CSP industry.

To learn more about CSP Today South Africa 2014 visit the website: http://goo.gl/6FCtwf

About CSP Today

CSP Today is the reference point for CSP professionals and a cornerstone for communications within the industry. We provide business intelligence to the industry with focused news, events, reports, updates and information for the Concentrated Solar Thermal Power industry in markets such as India, South Africa, Spain, USA, Chile and the MENA region.