South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) CEO Brenda Martin on Friday asserted that the renewables sector has proven its capacity to take on upfront risk and to contribute to broader national development objectives such as job creation, social development and providing new opportunities for economic ownership. In response to a statement issued by the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), issued on Thursday, in which the union expressed its opposition to renewable independent power producers (IPPs) and the proposed unbundling of Eskom, Martin pointed out that the “renewable energy sector is currently four times more employment-intensive than the country’s coal and nuclear sectors, as confirmed by the Department of Energy”.