The South Africa’s power utility, Eskom walked away with the ‘Green’ Grand Prix Award at the 17th annual Sunday Times Top Brands Awards for preserving the environment and harnessing the country’s natural resources, based on spontaneous awareness among consumers.
The award, which Eskom has won for the second year in a row, is awarded to companies that have embarked on environmentally friendly initiatives.
Brian Molefe, Acting Chief Executive said they continue to promote a culture that recognises sustainable development in all our activities.
“Environmental compliance, in terms of air quality, land, biodiversity, water, waste (including nuclear waste) and ash management, impacts operational sustainability. It is critical to maintaining our licence to operate, thereby ensuring security of supply. It also underpins our principle of zero harm to the environment, while operating under complex and evolving environmental requirements.”
The company said it continues to complement its commitment to environmental sustainability and reduce its carbon footprint with purchases of renewable energy from the independent power producers. Renewable energy sources include wind, solar power, biomass, landfill gas and small hydro technologies.
Eskom was recognised for its work in large scale renewable project, the 100MW Sere wind facility near Vredendal in the Western Cape, constructed pilot solar photovoltaic plants for its own consumption at the Kendal and Lethabo power stations and developing a diversified energy mix which includes wind, solar, hydro, pumped storage schemes, a nuclear power station and coal-fired power stations.
In addition to The Green Award, Eskom also came third in the Social Investment category.
The Sunday Times Top Brands Survey, in partnership with TNS South Africa looks at the brands’ penetration in the marketplace while also examining its relative strength amongst its users and its relative attraction amongst non-users. The methodology is aimed at determining which brands remain the most top-of-mind for consumers as well as business people.
