The Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality has approved an amount of R500 million to install low pressure solar water heaters to households that form part of government’s low cost housing programme.
The three-year rollout will begin in this first quarter of 2011 and is aimed at reducing poverty levels by helping residents to save significantly on their energy costs while, at the same time, reducing electricity demand and contributing to the reduction in carbon emissions.
Ekurhuleni executive mayor, Mondli Gungubele, said the programme is part of the National Solar Water Heating programme, launched in April last year, which aims to see one million solar water heaters set up in homes across South Africa by 2014.
“The rollout of solar water heaters to low cost house owners in Ekurhuleni is part of our effort to assist the poor in saving on expenses.
“In addition, by playing our part to achieve the 2014 target we will also, with this programme, contribute to meeting another national target – that of ensuring that by 2013, 10 000 gigawatt-hours of final energy consumption in South Africa is supplied by renewable energy,” Gungubele said.
The households to benefit from the solar water heating installations are in Daveyton, Etwatwa, Duduza, Kwa-Thema and Tsakane.
