Electricity and Energy Deputy Minister Samantha Graham-Maré reports that the long-awaited South African Renewable Energy Masterplan (SAREM) is currently wending its way through the Cabinet Committee process and has expressed optimism that it should be adopted “within the month”.

Speaking during an EE Business Intelligence Webinar, Graham-Maré acknowledged that the approval process had been awaited for more than two years and said she was adamant that it now needed to be signed off.

Graham-Maré was delegated SAREM as one of her responsibilities after her appointment as Deputy Minister in July last year, after the Democratic Alliance opted to join the Government of National Unity in 2024. She has been a Democratic Alliance MP since 2019, having previously served in Eastern Cape provincial and municipal government structures for the party.

The plan seeks to stimulate domestic industrial activities aligned to South Africa’s deployment of solar PV, wind and green hydrogen.

“While we are cognisant that trying to compete against the likes of China for solar panels is wildly optimistic, we know that we are capable of developing systems for the manufacture of components in the solar, wind and green hydrogen spaces,” Graham-Maré said.

She also viewed SAREM as key to positioning South Africa as a supplier of renewable-energy components in Africa, where renewables generation formed a key part of a joint World Bank and African Development Bank initiative known as Mission 300 to provide energy access to 300-million people on the African continent by 2030.

“It is my opinion that the roll-out of SAREM means that South Africa is perfectly positioned to play an integral role in Mission 300 and that we can become a preferred provider of renewable-energy components on the continent. By Africans for Africans,” she said.

The Deputy Minister also encouraged industry to begin registering to participate in a newly launched skills matchmaking platform for the renewables sector.

Known as Power Up, the platform has been developed by the EWSETA, UK Pact and Green Cape.

“Businesses can list the skills they require on the system and those can either be met by individuals who have been trained in those skills, or where these skill sets do not yet exist, tertiary bodies can design their own courses around the skills demand.”