South Africa fails to meet solar geyser target

The South African government has not managed to meet its targets in rolling out solar water heaters "due to financial constraints," Minister of Energy Dipuo Peters said here on Wednesday. To date 115, 000 solar water heaters have been installed by the government, 57.5 percent of the target of 200, 000 set by the department for the 2010/11 financial year, Peters told Parliament. The solar water heater program began in the 2010/11 financial year and is financed by a combination of a National Treasury allocation and an electricity tariff rebate. The department of energy has set a target of one million solar geysers to be installed by 2013, hoping this will help electricity utility Eskom by reducing electricity demand by 3 000 MW. The minister did not elaborate on the "financial constraints" responsible for failing to meet the goal, but earlier reports said the rebate fund for Eskom's solar water heater program would run dry in the current financial year. After Eskom sharply increased the subsidy per solar water heater last year, in April this year it reduced the amount amid rising electricity prices and an increase in demand for solar geysers. By April only 314 million rand (about 40 million U.S. dollars) remained with which to finance its subsidy program. Eskom has indicated that the program would cease once the money runs out.