Advantages Of Renewable Energy In South Africa

While this should not be a deterrent for their implementation it.

Advantages of renewable energy in south africa.

African examples of countries that successfully implemented renewable energy auctions are south africa morocco and zambia international renewable energy agency 2017b. There were some basic lessons that could be learned from the department of energy s renewable energy programme. The state anywhere in the. Hydropower from neighbouring.

Major sectors like agriculture education communication and technology all require abundant consistent and cost effective energy to spur the. Advantage can be derived from the association with other uses of water water supply irrigation flood control etc which are critical to the future economic and socio economic development of south africa. However in an increasingly carbon constrained world and already now facing climate change impacts south africa has to reduce greenhouse gas emissions intensity soon and decidedly. South africa also got to protect its environment and finally the country got much needed cheap electricity he said.

Africa has much greater solar resources available than any other continent because it is the sunniest continent on earth. Renewable energy systems are costly to implement in the beginning but provide high economic returns in the long run. Procuring 6 800 mw from renewable energy producers actually means that south africa will attract annual investments for the duration of the determination period ntuli explained. The advantages and attractiveness of these plants are that they can either be standalone or in a hybrid combination with other renewable energy sources.

The existing renewable energy industry associations in south africa are somewhat inwardly focused and vie for relevance among a membership base of developers independent power producers ipps. Apart from coal which contributes around 59 to the total primary energy supply south africa gets energy locally from biomass such as wood and dung natural gas hydro power nuclear power solar power and wind. South african energy is dominated by coal which is plentiful and cheap and is ranked among the lowest energy costs in the world. Biomass is currently the largest renewable energy contributor in south africa with 9 14 of the total energy mix.

The government is focussing on diversifying the power mix by introducing natural gas and renewables including concentrating solar power csp. The challenge of transforming entire economies is enormous. Energy is an essential factor for the reduction of poverty and economic growth. Renewable energy systems in the long term are comparable or cost slightly less than non renewable sources.

The lessons have nothing to do with privatisation or even renewable energy. South africa has excellent natural resources for csp development. Electricity final energy consumption in south africa by scenario 2018 2040. For instance the continent has a large coastline where wind power and wave power resources are abundant and underutilized in the north and south.