Cape Town - The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has allocated R40 million this year to promote energy efficiency, generation and storage at schools in the province.
Education MEC David Maynier in a speech in the legislature on Wednesday said R29.55 billion would be spent on education this year.
This is an increase of R1.38bn compared with last year, making the education budget the biggest of any department in the provincial government.
“We need a collective effort to make schools more energy-resilient,” Maynier said.
“To get the job done, we will spend R40 million this year to promote energy efficiency, generation and storage in our schools.”
“Our LED lighting project, in conjunction with the University of Stellenbosch, has already seen high energy usage lights at 50 schools replaced with energy-efficient LED lighting. The new lighting helps these schools to save around 30% on their electricity costs while reducing the demand on the grid.”
This year, the department will replace the lighting at a further 25 schools.
“We want to go further than just saving electricity, and expand the potential for our schools to generate it.
“We have already received applications from 50 schools for permission to install their own solar PV systems, and will continue to support schools to take these steps to secure their energy supply,” Maynier said.
The department will undertake installation of solar PV systems at 10 schools, generating up to 60 kilowatts peak, depending on the size of the school and installation. These installations aim to help reduce the schools’ reliance on the electrical grid while creating a valuable opportunity for them to sell their excess power to the grid, Maynier said.
“We will undertake a test case full installation of solar PV, battery back-up and LED lighting at one school, to determine whether this kind of package installation is sufficient to provide the electricity a school needs for its core functions, including administration systems and computer labs and lighting in key areas.”
Cape Times