Judging in this creative competition for primary-school learners is almost complete and prizes will be presented as part of the SA International Renewable Energy Conference (SAIREC), a global event hosted by the South African Department of Energy and taking place in Cape Town from Sunday, 4 to Wednesday, 7 October 2015.

To be eligible to compete, children had to be in Grades 1 to 7 at primary schools in areas where renewable energy projects, such as biogas, wind and solar power, have been established by the Department of Energy’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). These include Prieska in the Northern Cape, Rustenburg in North West, Onseepkans in Namaqualand, and Tsitsikamma in the Eastern Cape.

In each of three age-group categories, the winner will take home prizes of R100 000 for their school. The first, second and third-placed learners in each category will also receive cash prizes of R10 000, R7000 and R3500 respectively. However, the entries from a special-needs school were so outstanding that judges have exercised their discretion to award the school a R200 000 prize.

The art competition has been designed with triple impact for a more sustainable future for South Africa, notes Minister of Energy Tina Joemat-Pettersson. This meshing of education, environmental and sustainability goals exemplifies her outlook.

“Our nation’s children are our nation’s future and this competition develops their creativity,” she says. “Learners taking part have entered artworks depicting renewable energy in some form so these children have had to learn about renewable energy projects, especially those happening in or near their communities."

“Developing their vision of South Africa’s brighter future with renewable energy introduces technology education and makes them aware of environmental and sustainability issues at a young age," says Joemat-Pettersson.

“We can all be proud that the REIPPPP has already contributed to South Africa being ranked by the United Nations Environment Programme in the top 10 countries investing in renewable energy. This fun competition is one of many elements of much broader community renewal and enterprise development projects, with companies participating in the REIPPPP already having committed R25-billion.”

Winners, runners-up and their parents or guardians will be hosted in Cape Town for the award ceremony, where their artwork will be displayed at the IPP Office stand at SAIREC 2015. As well as being exposed to the global impact of renewables and their exciting future, they will visit some of Cape Town’s top tourist attractions, such as the Two Oceans Aquarium, Iziko Museum and Cape Malay Quarter and Bo Kaap Museum.

“The RE-energising Africa Art Competition is another way of consolidating the ties between Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and the communities where they have active projects,” says Joemat-Pettersson. “The IPPs have been encouraged to support schools with art supplies and help school principals and teachers coordinate entries."

“This is just one creative way that we are celebrating the success of the REIPPPP, which has contributed an extra 6327MW of capacity to the national electricity grid since 2011.”

So far the private sector has invested almost R193-billion in renewable energy in South Africa, about a quarter of this coming from overseas. Nearly 20 000 jobs have also been created.

For more information, visit the SAIREC website.