The eThekwini Energy Office is a small unit situated within the Treasury Department. The Energy Office is responsible for conceptualising and initiating projects in the following areas:

1) Renewable Energy (generating energy from renewable sources such as the sun)
2) Energy Efficiency (helping use less energy)
3) Climate Change Mitigation (reducing our greenhouse gasses)

 

Mission Statement
The Energy Office’s mission statement is to position the eThekwini Municipality as the sustainable energy manufacturing hub for the Southern Africa region.

 

History of the Energy Office
The eThekwini Municipality embarked on a concerted energy efficiency drive, realised through the establishment of the eThekwini Energy Office in February 2009. The Energy Office was established in response to the National Power Conservation Program which set energy saving targets of between 10 and 15% across all sectors in the country in 2008. The Energy Office was the first of its kind in South Africa and set a precedent for local government participation in the sustainable energy interventions at a local scale.

 

The Energy Office was set up with seed funding from DANIDA through the Urban Environmental Management Program (UEMP). The initial focus of the Energy Office was to reduce electricity consumption in municipal infrastructure processes. Over the 2009 period the Energy Office initiated a number of pilot street light retrofit programs and various meeting interventions.

 

Parallel to the establishment of the Energy Office, the eThekwini Municipality also drafted a municipal Energy Strategy. This process was also funded through the UEMP. In January 2010, the eThekwini Council adopted the eThekwini Energy Strategy , which significantly broadened the mandate and responsibility of the energy office.

The Energy Strategy outlines 5 themes of interventions, namely

Theme A: Residential Sector Action Plans
Theme B: Local Authority & Public Sector Action Plans
Theme C: Industry, Commerce & Agribusiness Sector Action Plans
Theme D: Transport
Theme E: Cross Cutting

See Our Plan of Action

 

The Energy Strategy also lists a number of key strategic interventions with associated timeframes, responsibilities and key stakeholders. The strategy has ensured that a great deal of the underpinning planning and research for energy efficiency within the eThekwini Municipal Area has already been completed. The actions are very pragmatic and implementable and go a long way to creating a framework for the operation of the energy office in the city.

 

The key constraint with the Energy Strategy is the specific focus on energy efficiency. The strategy provides very little direction on renewable energy or climate change mitigation within the city. In the absence of any other institutional structures, both renewable energy and climate change mitigation programs are being implemented by the energy office, by default. In the short-term future, it is intended for the strategy to be revised to include renewable energy and climate mitigation.