RENEWABLE ENERGY IN SOUTH AFRICA

This month the South African Department of Energy will be releasing two important reports related to clean energy, a wind atlas and a carbon storage atlas. These are concrete signs that the government is serious about achieving its emissions reduction targets outlined at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen.

To meet its emissions targets, South Africa will have to reduce emissions by 34% by 2020 and 42% by 2025. This will only be possible if South Africa’s energy mix undergoes significant change. At the moment over 90% of South Africa’s power is derived from coal, with most of the remainder generated by the Koeberg nuclear power station. Moreover, supply pressures,

increasing demand and relatively abundant coal reserves means that coal based power generation is likely to dominate the South African energy mix for some time to come.

There are signs, however, that the government is taking its commitment to a cleaner economy seriously. The Department of Energy has been exploring the potential for carbon capture and storage in South Africa, and will reach a milestone in August with the publication of a Carbon Dioxide Geological Storage Atlas. Of course, storing carbon dioxide underground is not a permanent solution, yet it can potentially serve as an important transitional mechanism while cleaner forms of energy production undergo technological advancement and large scale implementation.

Energy Minister Dipuo Peters has also announced that a Wind Atlas will be published in August, which “will identify potential sites and provide accurate information on the wind resource within the country”. A “solar investor conference” will further be hosted in September, which would allow potential investors to interact with government and industry on the development of a solar industrial park.

Amidst these activities stakeholders in South Africa’s energy sector are eagerly awaiting the publication of government’s integrated resource plan (IRP), which will provide an energy-mix road map for the next two decades. Prospective renewable energy investors have appealed for wind and solar generation, in particular, to feature more strongly in the IRP2010 than was the case in the first IRP, which was still overwhelmingly coal dominant. Adele Greyling, Eskom's renewable power programme manager, is confident the mix could include 25% renewable sources by 2030. "We hope that when the integrated resource plan is finalized it addresses security of supply concerns, but still provides diversification. Medupi might be the last coal power station," she said.

Meanwhile, the government hopes that its efforts at addressing climate change and developing a greener economy will also generate new employment opportunities. The Industrial Development Corporation recently announced that they will invest up to R11.7 billion in “green industries” in the next five years, aimed both at creating jobs and reducing carbon emissions. A recent report by international research organization the Global Climate Network on the job potential of low-carbon technologies indicates that, directly, some 36 400 jobs and, indirectly, 109 100 jobs could be created in the renewable-energy sector in South Africa by 2020.