The long overdue IRP approved by the Cabinet to be released on October 18 - but will it create certainty in the energy sector?

SOUTH AFRICA - Report 17 Oct 2019 by Iraj Abedian

Electricity in South Africa (SA) is exclusively provided by the state-owned Eskom, supplying close to 95% of the electricity in the country – which is about 45% of Africa’s total electricity generation. Moreover, SA’s power generation is predominantly dominated by coal as well as nuclear energy (77% and 5%, respectively) and it is actually the fifth largest coal producing country in the world. But with coal being the source of the most pollution of all energy sources, and the building of coal-fired power stations being long and expensive, a move to tapping into the renewables sector is growing. Furthermore, during his State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Ramaphosa emphasized his preference for the country to take the lead on low-carbon industrialization and “green growth” to increase the contribution of renewable energy to the country’s national electricity generation mix. As such, the country’s approach to transitioning away from coal has been made evident in the initial Integrated Resource Plan (IRP).

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