Clinton Foundation promotes solar energy in South Africa

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- The Clinton Foundation and the South African government have signed an agreement to build the country's first "solar park."

Business Day reported Monday that the memorandum of understanding between the Clinton Foundation and South Africa's Energy Department provides construction of the facility to begin before the end of 2010.

Despite having abundant solar resources and an advanced technological base, South Africa does not currently have significant solar projects. The MOU puts South Africa among the nations tending towards developing solar parks as a way to maximize solar resources, alleviate greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the country's dependence on fossil fuels.

The MOU is not the Clinton Foundation's first venture into solar energy, as it signed a similar agreement in August to construct a solar park in India's Gujarat state.

Speaking at the announcement of the initiative, South African Energy Minister Dipuo Peters commented, "It is a commonly known fact that our country is well endowed with unique and abundant natural renewable energy resources that still remain largely untapped," adding that the government had established a target of generating 10,000 gigawatt-hours of renewable energy by 2013.