Plan for solar panels at health facilities

THE national Health Department has appointed the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to conduct a due diligence check on the roll-out of solar energy to all health facilities across the country.

“The proposed solar-energy programme is going to cover the roll-out of solar energy and battery storage as back-up supply to all the clinics, community heath centres, hospitals, emergency medical centres and the forensic laboratories.

“The objective of the exercise by CSIR is to identify the required critical consumption for critical areas of each health facility so that the department can be able to compile a comprehensive business case that will assist the department in justifying for the required budget,” Health Minister Joe Phaahla said.

Phaahla was responding to Freedom Front Plus MP Philip van Staden when he requested details about the the proposed solar-energy roll-out programme.

In another response to Van Staden, the minister revealed that public hospitals had spent more than half a billion rand on diesel just to keep the lights on during load shedding between April 2022 and March this year.

A total of R372 242 000 was initially budgeted for diesel during the financial year but this increased to R666 655 000 when the Budget was adjusted.

Phaahla said CSIR would identify critical areas within a “health facility” that required a back-up service from solar energy.

“CSIR is going to quantify the required size of solar energy for those critical areas.”

Phaala also said the council would consider different kits of inverters with batteries for the clinics and community health centres.

“Unlike solar panels, these kits are not easy to steal.

“They can be stored in a lockable room with burglar bars and with strict access control.”

The minister added that the CSIR study would also map out the roll-out implementation programme for the required solar energy solution for each health facility.

“The study will also identify areas that can be funded by donors like USAID, including others that are interested to partner with the National Department of Health,” he said.

Phaahla said the due diligence study by CSIR was expected to be completed at the end of April.

“The expected start date of the roll-out of the solar energy programme is June, depending on the availability of funding from the national state of disaster centre.

“The envisaged completion date is going to be informed by the detailed analysis by CSIR,” he said.

The department provided Eskom with a total of 213 hospitals to be considered for possible exclusion from load shedding.

Only 76 hospitals have been exempted – 26 are directly supplied by Eskom and 50 by municipalities.

Phaahla added that he had directed the department’s director-general to meet with Eskom to jointly seek interventions to mitigate against load shedding.

“The meetings with Eskom are happening on a regular basis to seek more exemptions of health-care facilities.”