In late October, Namibia and South Africa played host to Dr Martin Ledolter, Managing Director of the Austrian Development Agency (ADA). ADA is the main funder of the SOLTRAIN project which started in 2009 and is currently in its third phase.
Namibia
During his mission to Windhoek, Dr Ledolter visited some of the Namibian beneficiaries of the SOLTRAIN project, accompanied by staff from the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), Namibia Energy Institute (NEI), Windhoek Vocational Training Centre (WVTC), National Training Authority (NTA), National Youth Service (NYS) and Trinity Business Solution (TBS).
Dr. Ledolter’s visit also coincided with the official Launch of the SADC Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (SACREE). ADA is a core donor to SACREEE and supports the Global Network of Regional Sustainable Energy Centres. In his keynote statement, Dr Ledolter highlighted the importance of regional cooperation and Austria’s support for the establishment of regional sustainable energy centres such as SACREEE. He also participated in the round table discussion of SACREEE partners on the theme “Promoting Sustainable Energy for Infrastructure Development through Regional Cooperation”.
Dr Ledolter also had the opportunity of being shown the first collector manufactured in Namibia by the participants of Train the Trainer Courses carried out under SOLTRAIN II. The collector was manufactured by the Vocational Educational Trainers, Kayec Training Trust, National Youth Service, NamWater Human Resource Development Centre and National Training Authority, with the assistance from the Deutsche Gesellschaft Fur Internationale Zusammenarbert’s (GIZ) ProVet programme. The collector was also exhibited during the official launch of SACREEE.
Lastly, Dr Ledolter also paid a courtesy visit to the Vice Chancellor of NUST, Prof. Tjama Tjivikua. NUST is the main SOLTRAIN implementing partner in Namibia.
South Africa
On the South African leg of his journery, Dr Ledolter was accompanied by Angelo Buckley and Karin Kritzinger from CRSES in visiting two of the large-scale solar thermal installations that were co-funded by SOLTRAIN, namely, the 120 m2 solar thermal system at Cape Brewing Company in Paarl and the 100 m2 solar thermal system at Melomed Hospital in Gatesville, Cape Town. These systems were installed during SOLTRAIN phases 2 and 3 respectively.
CRSES was proud to host Dr Ledolter and happy to present the positive impact ADA and SOLTRAIN has had on the solar thermal industry in South Africa and its beneficiaries through the co-funding of some of the largest solar thermal demonstration systems to date in the Western Cape.
