CPUT is positioning itself to become one of the leaders in renewable energy skills and technology development on the African continent.
Driving this agenda is Naim Rassool, who has been appointed as the Director of the South African Renewable Energy Technology Centre (SARETEC).
Based at the Bellville Campus, SARETEC is the first national renewable energy technology centre in South Africa that delivers specialized training, education and services to the renewable energy sector.
An engineer by trade, Rassool comes with strong credentials, having held the position of CEO of USC Metering (Pty) Ltd, Western Cape Regional Head of the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), as well as being the Commercialization Manager at the Innovation Fund.
With diverse experience in the engineering sector, Rassool was exposed to the renewable energy sector during his time as a consulting engineer for CSIR. Whilst at TIA, he was involved in investments into renewable energy ventures in the private industry as well as in universities and science councils.
VISION: Naim Rassool is the Director of the South African Renewable Energy Technology Centre
Already several weeks into his new position, Rassool has a bold vision for SARETEC.
“SARETEC was set up and will remain primarily a national training centre, but it needs to evolve into a national centre that has the capacity to assist in the transfer and commercialization of technology from academia into the renewable energy private sector for the benefit of the South African economy” he says.
Part of this goal will see SARETEC create strong linkages with academia throughout the country and establish a strong presence in provinces close to renewable energy infrastructure projects.
SARETEC will also hope to offer the private sector more than just training solutions but technology solutions that can address a need or problem.
Funded by the National Skills Fund, through the Department of Higher Education and Training, Rassool also plans to work towards ensuring that the Centre is financially self-sustainable once funds are utilized. This would be achieved through aggressively marketing its training services to the private sector and introducing other ancillary offerings that are revenue generating.
“The Minister of Energy very recently announced that South Africa will allocate an additional 6 300 megawatts of renewable energy, adding to the 5 200 megawatts already being procured to supply into the national energy grid. Hence the need for more technician skills for both wind and solar farms will become of paramount importance as we move forward,” he says.
SARETEC will also roll-out refresher courses for current technicians in the field as well as training graduates for the renewable energy sector.
“The fact that we have a dedicated facility with industry-relevant equipment and training modules, will ensure that we make a huge difference in addressing the skills required in South African wind and solar farms,” he says.
Written by Candes Keating
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