Project: Transition to climate-friendly refrigeration and air conditioning in Western Cape

Stemming from a successful bilateral relationship for over 20 years, the Governments of Bavaria and the Western Cape started a partnership project on the “transition to climate-friendly refrigeration and air conditioning” in 2017. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) is the implementing partner of the project, facilitating the transfer of best practice and technology between Bavaria and Western Cape. From 2018 to 2020, nine selected South African experts participated in a two-week Cool Training Course in Maintal, Germany, where they learned how the adoption of climate-friendly cooling appliances is viable both from an economical and technical perspective. In 2019, the Department of Environmental Affairs & Developmental Planning (DEA&DP), Western Cape Government, together with the Bavarian Environment Agency (LfU), hosted a two-day technical workshop in Stellenbosch on the transitioning to green cooling solutions. The result of the successful workshop was the development of a RAC Pilot Project. The West Coast College was selected as the first Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) college in the Western Cape, to train refrigeration and air-conditioning artisans on the use of natural refrigerant gases, in particular with hydrocarbons. With a financial contribution made by the Green Cooling Initiative of GIZ Proklima for the training equipment, as well as the provision of the RAC Training Modules for hydrocarbons, the pilot project is planned to be implemented by September 2021.