The South African Renewable Energy and Technology Centre (SARETEC) facility was established to develop the skills required to design, build, operate and maintain world-class renewable energy utility-scale power plants.

The fully equipped cutting-edge facility, located at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, is fully operational and was launched by the Director-General of Higher Education and Training, Gwebinkundla Qonde, in November 2018.

It is a response to the Department of Energy’s integrated resource plan (IRP201), which commits to the procurement of some 800 megawatts of renewable energy for the next 20 years.

The National Skills Fund (NSF) approved grant funding of R105 million for establishing and equipping the SARETEC facility and included R24 million for operational costs.

In its seven years, SARETEC has made tangible strides. It has two registered curricula for wind and solar, and soon plans to offer qualifications in energy efficiency and biomass to gas.

SARETEC is actively building intimate, value-driven academic-industry partnerships in the development of renewable energies with the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services SETA as the quality partner.

This article was published in the NSF 2018/19 Annual Report