One of the craziest stories the @mailandguardian has ever published. A decade ago a project was launched to get a million solar water heaters to homes/offices. This would help people who couldn't afford electric heaters, and (crucially) could take pressure off the @Eskom_SA grid.
The quality was so poor that the programme was moved to @Energy_ZA. A tender to manufacture, supply, deliver and store the heaters was issued during the 2015-16 financial year, for a period of three years.
200 water heaters were installed in Nelson Mandela Bay as part of a pilot programme. None were installed at the 19 other municipalities earmarked for that part of the rollout.
Storage costs are charged per unit per day, rather than by floor area. With just 200 of the 87 000 solar water heaters installed, government has paid R289-million IN STORAGE COSTS for the heaters to sit, doing nothing.
As far as @HelloThando could find out, there is no investigation into this.

So R289-million has been spent to store solar water heaters. While Eskom's grid struggles to survive and electricity prices soar. https://mg.co.za/news/2020-07-30-solar-stuck-where-sun-dont-shine-state-spends-millions-on-storing-water-heaters/
Solar stuck where sun don’t shine: State spends millions on storing water heaters

The national solar water heater programme is set to take off once again this year, but meanwhile the government is spending millions on storing heaters that have yet to be installed

https://mg.co.za/news/2020-07-30-solar-stuck-where-sun-dont-shine-state-spends-millions-on-storing-water-heaters/
This reminds me of a 2013 @mailandguardian story I did on the myriad failures of the solar water heater rollout. Such an important programme. So broken. And with real consequences for the grid and people who can’t afford electricity. https://mg.co.za/article/2013-06-07-00-solar-geysers-get-a-cool-reception/
Solar geysers get a cool reception in Riverlea

In Riverlea, people have had their solar geysers for only two weeks but their shoddy workmanship has dashed many residents' expectations.

https://mg.co.za/article/2013-06-07-00-solar-geysers-get-a-cool-reception/
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