The Innovation Hub: Utilities should be creative | ESI-Africa.com
Exclusive interview with Dr. Rethabile Melamu, General Manager: Green Economy at The Innovation Hub. Dr Melamu is an Advisory Board member of the upcoming African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa in Cape Town in May.
Let’s start with some background on your
organisation and your interests in Africa, and in particular South Africa?
I work for an organisation called The Innovation Hub
Management Company (TIHMC) established by the Gauteng Department of Economic
Development through its implementing agency, the Gauteng Growth and Development
Agency.
TIHMC was established as an innovation agency of the
Gauteng government to stimulate innovation activity in the province. TIHMC manages
a Science and Technology Park located in Lynnwood Pretoria, addition has
presence in 10 townships across Gauteng via our eKasiLabs, satellite hubs in
based townships
The mandate of the organisation is to create a
conducive environment for the development of innovation to enhance economic
growth and competitiveness of the Gauteng Province by building collaborative
networks and offering elements that are essential for innovation to thrive. As
our current campaign slogan sums up the rationale behind a number of our
activities is summarised as follows – we help guide innovation activity today,
so that we can prepare innovators to build tomorrow.
Our organisation aims to be the leading innovation
agency in the country and the continent. This vision is to inspire South Africa
and Africa at large to harness both natural and human resources to grow the
economy whilst solving some Africa’s most pressing challenges such as provision
of basic services (water&sanitation, energy, health, food, etc.) utilising
innovation as a tool.
Any specific current projects that you are
particularly excited about?
There are a number of initiatives that the
organization and I am excited about in the energy and water sectors (most of
them bespoke and complementary to utilities’ work). This is likely to be biased
to some of the start-up companies we have supported over the last few years.
Two energy projects come to mind:
Technotherm: The company has developed a waste to energy technology (pyrolysis) that converts carbon-based material into gas products that can be utilised to generate various renewable energy (either as gas or for the generation of electricity) in the region that companies in the same sector hardly plays in, from 1MW to about 5MW. This technology already has been exported to Europe and America.
Sustain Power: It offers containerised, high-quality, and durable solutions for sustainable power generation using solar energy and CHP technology. The end product is designed and manufactured in South Africa with world-class components. What is unique about the solution is the integration of various existing technologies such as water pumps, water treatment and refrigeration, thus offering multipurpose off-grid solutions for permanent rural electrification or temporary and mobile installations.
There are a number of other technologies in the water
sector that I could share on if there is interest. A company called Roc Water
has developed a treatment technology for acid mine drainage. Whilst another
company called Kusini Water has developed a nano-filtration treatment using
shells of macadamia nuts.
What in your view are the main challenges in this
sector? And the opportunities that these present?
There are numerous challenges facing the utility
sector in the African continent in general, some of these include:
What is your vision for this sector?
There are a number of things I hope to see in the next
20 years, so I will not provide a single vision statement, rather my wish for
our continent in the broad sense:
What surprises you about this sector?
That we have been discussing the same problem and challenges for almost
a decade, and reliance on political will for it to advance its work. Whilst
political will and landscape is important, process innovation, leadership and
ability to take bold decision will be of key importance.
You are an advisory board member for the upcoming
African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa in Cape Town in May 2020 and may
become involved as a panellist or speaker, in which case what would be your
main message at the event?
Public procurement policies and regulatory frameworks hinder the public
institutions from adopt/procuring innovative technologies that will enable
better service delivery to a broader population. There are notably good
innovations in the country, some never make it to mainstream market due to
legislation impediments for procuring innovation.
Promotion, support and embracing entrepreneurship in the sector is not
necessarily about competition, embracing start-ups as strategic partners has
the potential to propel the industry to greater heights
Anything you would like to add?
Utilities should be creative and agile and look beyond political will
where possible. Without that they will struggle for relevance as small players
compete for the same slice of the pie in the future. There is a need for bold
and risk taking leadership. Leadership that embraces talents within utilities
(embracing the knowledge worker).