Making renewable energy affordable: the South African Renewables Initiative

Abstract

South Africa is a country with a predominantly coal-fired electricity system and ever-growing energy needs. Use of renewable energy resources for electricity generation is currently almost non-existent, but the potential is great. Through its new Integrated Resource Plan (2010) calling for 19 gigawatts (GW) of renewable electricity by 2030, its newly launched South Africa Renewables Initiative (SARi), and the announcement of the first tranche of accepted tenders of over 1,000 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy from independent power producers (IPPs), South Africa is heralding a commitment to meet both its future energy needs and its climate change objectives. But the country is also clearly signalling its need for help from the international community to achieve these twin objectives