Renewable Energy In South Africa Research Articles

Assessment of the locational potential of floating offshore wind energy in South Africa

Expanding floating wind into new markets could support emission reduction targets in several national contexts. It furthers the need for adequate assessments to gain a full understanding of the technology’s potential in future markets. South Africa is a prime case study as it has seen limited industry and policy developments despite its huge technical potential for floating offshore wind (FOW). This paper assessed the locational potential of floating wind in South Africa through a three-phased approach that evaluated the key technical drivers/barriers of the technology, conducted a Geographic Information System analysis (GIS) using ArcMap 10.8 to exclude unsuitable sites based on a predetermined exclusion criteria (including marine protected zones, underwater cables, major oil and gas deposits, etc.), and estimated the total harvestable capacity in the feasible sites. The study found that 2% (246,105.4 km2) of South Africa’s entire Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is suitable for hosting floating wind turbines, with a potential to generate a maximum of 142.61 GW of floating wind power. Although the Western Cape province holds the highest potential (80.52 GW) for floating wind in the country, the Eastern Cape region, with a locational potential of 20.04 GW, is considered most suitable for early-stage developments due to the availability of grid connection points, limited marine traffic, and proximity to appropriate port facilities. Future work can conduct techno-economic assessments to evaluate the technical and economic implications of developing floating wind in distinct sites in the country’s EEZ.

Optimizing the Benefits of Invasive Alien Plants Biomass in South Africa

The current political situation in South Africa is seeking opportunities to promote sustainable development and use of renewable resources for energy, poverty alleviation, economic development, and environmental protection (e.g., mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions). The present study is based on a critical literature review and synthesis of policy advice in South Africa. The study comprehensively examined the knowledge base and gathered relevant empirical findings and perspectives so as to identify the gaps, trends, and patterns in the optimal management and utilization of invasive alien plants (IAPs) biomass, thereby supporting evidence-based practice. Additionally, the literature review was supported by the first-hand experience of invasive alien plants management and its biomass utilization. This research proposes long-term options for optimizing the costs and benefits of invasive alien plants biomass and meeting rising energy demand. Biomass from the country’s approximately 300 “Working for Water (WfW) Projects” might be used for bioenergy, firewood, charcoal, and other value-added forest products, both for internal and international use. The extraction and use of biomass from invasive alien plants for green energy and other valuable products would aid in the elimination of hazardous invasive species and reduce the amount of fuel in the fields, as well as fire and flood threats. Biomass from invasive alien plants clearings can be distributed to rural regions and informal settlements as a supply of firewood with the aim of reducing reliance on nearby forests, conserving the environment and biodiversity, minimizing forest degradation, supporting climate change, and enhancing energy efficiency and wood waste management (e.g., recycling and prevention) for green economic development and industrial transformation. The findings of this study imply that for competitive biomass-to-energy conversion and bio-economic applications for the use of invasive alien plant biomass, cost management, particularly for transportation, and significant regulatory incentives are essential. In addition, effective policy instruments that aid in the promotion of innovative systems and knowledge generation are required so that biomass can be optimally used for bioenergy and other competitive bio-economic applications.

Testing the effects of banking development, economic growth and foreign direct investment on renewable energy in South Africa

AbstractThe world's climate‐related policies need to be revised to combat environmental issues. Therefore, adopting renewable energy technologies in conjunction with energy efficiency measures are needed to make safe pathways to reduce over 90% of energy related CO2. In this context, this study intends to assess the influence of foreign direct investment (FDI), economic growth, and banking and development on renewable energy consumption in South Africa from 1970 to 2020. The study uses a novel ‘bootstrap Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL)’ testing to empirically analyse the short and long links among the tested variables. The ARDL estimations demonstrate a FDI and economic growth have positive effect on renewable energy consumption. Furthermore, the outcomes reveal that banking sector development affects positively renewable energy use in long run. Therefore, it is suggested that government and playmakers of South Africa must make more efforts to link the economic and baking development with renewable energy by investing capital and funds in renewable energy infrastructure. It will not only boost the economy of the country but also provide an opportunity to clean and green the environment with decreasing rate of greenhouse gases emission like carbon dioxide.

Fiscal Policy, Oil Price, Foreign Direct Investment, and Renewable Energy—A Path to Sustainable Development in South Africa

Since South Africa is in pursuit of accomplishing the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, it has become pertinent to accelerate the desired energy transition. Against this background, this work aims to evaluate the effects of oil prices, fiscal policy, and foreign direct investment on renewable energy consumption in South Africa from 1979 to 2019. Using the novel Augmented Autoregressive Distributed Lag approach, this study finds that economic growth and taxation revenues positively promote renewable energy in South Africa. In contrast, the findings show that an increase in oil prices has a negative impact on renewable energy in both short and long periods. Likewise, the research shows that foreign direct investment was not found to enhance renewable energy. The findings from fully modified-OLS, dynamic ordinary least squares, and canonical cointegrating regression models corroborate the findings of the Autoregressive Distributed Lag method. For the Granger causality inference, the findings demonstrate that there is a one-way causal connection detected from economic growth to the consumption of renewable energy. Based on these outcomes, a policy framework has been offered to help South Africa to attain the sustainable development goals.

Drivers of solar photovoltaic deployment in South African public universities: a Delphi study

PurposeSolar photovoltaic energy is the fastest growing renewable energy in South Africa, and deployment at public universities is critical in order to meet the high energy demand on campuses in a more sustainable manner. To promote and support deployment, it is necessary to know the factors that drive adoption of the technology. Thus, the aim of this study was to identify the factors which engender deployment of photovoltaic energy in public universities in South Africa.Design/methodology/approachThrough an extensive literature review, the factors which drive photovoltaic energy deployment were identified and a three round Delphi survey was conducted for panellists to rate the drivers. The data were analysed using SPSS Version 27, and the mean and inter-quartile range values were used to identify the significant drivers within the public university sector.FindingsThe findings suggested that the deployment of photovoltaic energy is engendered by the direct and indirect benefits, social influences and the relative advantage of photovoltaic energy usage. For instance, universities install photovoltaic energy because of the financial gains that are made through reduction of energy cost. The deployment is also motivated by the reduction of energy-related greenhouse gases, enhancement of university sustainability performance, and the contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals.Originality/valueA significant contribution to the body of knowledge regarding the drivers of photovoltaic energy deployment has been made in the paper from the perspective of a public university. The contribution fills the knowledge gap in South Africa by contributing valuable information to enable decision-makers to gain better understanding of the key issues that call for more attention in promoting and supporting photovoltaic energy deployment in the sector.

A SWOT Analysis Approach for a Sustainable Transition to Renewable Energy in South Africa

South Africa is been faced with erratic power supply, resulting in persistent load shedding due to ageing in most of its coal-fired power plants. Associated with generating electricity from fossil fuel are environmental consequences such as greenhouse emissions and climate change. On the other hand, the country is endowed with abundant renewable energy resources that can potentially ameliorate its energy needs. This article explores the viability of renewable energy using the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis approach on the key renewable potential in the country. The result indicates that geographic position, political and economic stability and policy implementation are some of the strengths. However, Government bureaucratic processes, level of awareness and high investment cost are some of the weaknesses. Several opportunities favour switching to renewable energy, and these include regional integration, global awareness on climate change and the continuous electricity demand. Some threats hindering the renewable energy sector in the country include land ownership, corruption and erratic climatic conditions. Some policy implications are suggested based on the findings of the study.

Drivers of Renewable Energy Adoption in the Built Environment: A Case of South Africa

The built environment is regarded as the biggest consumer of energy globally due to its energy-intensive characteristics. Despite the over-reliance of both developed and developing nations on fossil fuels, there is a growing demand for energy as the population increases thereby exerting significant pressure on the energy production, generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure. To proffer a lasting solution to the energy challenges, countries are now advancing their quest for alternative energy sources. Hence, the growing clamour and global attention on renewable energy which is also identified as a clean and sustainable solution compared to the traditional fossil fuel-based energy source. This paper is aimed at identifying the drivers of adopting renewable energy in South Africa. Data was gathered through a well-structured questionnaire distributed to relevant construction professionals. A quantitative approach to data analysis was employed using percentages, standard deviation and mean item score. From the analyzed data, the results revealed that training and education of professionals, efficient energy sector reforms, awareness creation, government support, and increased supply of renewable energy technologies are the top five drivers of renewable energy adoption. It is therefore important for the government and relevant stakeholders to encourage and support the integration and adoption of renewable energy owing to its potential in significantly reducing the negative environmental footprint of the built environment.

Statistical evaluation of using the new generation of wind turbines in South Africa

In the view of the latest status and the potential of developing wind energy in South Africa, the present study aims to perform technical–economic–environmental​ analysis on a wind turbine system with HOMER software using the 20-years average data of the wind speed obtained from NASA’s database, for providing the electricity to residential buildings. The results showed that the Port Elizabeth station, had the lowest levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) with the value of -0.363 $/kWh when using the EOLO wind turbine, and the Bloemfontein station had the highest LCOE with the value of 1.601 $/kWh when using the Turby wind turbine. The results from the step-wise assessment ratio analysis (SWARA) weighting method demonstrated the wind penetration, total production, and capital cost as the most important sub-indices with the weights of 0.106, 0.095, and 0.091, respectively. Using the additive ratio assessment (ARAS), weighted sum method (WSM), and weighted aggregated sum product assessment (WASPAS) techniques, the cities under study were ranked, and the cities of East London and Bloemfontein were identified as the most suitable and the most unsuitable stations for the use of household-scale wind turbines, respectively.

Optimization of bioethanol and sugar supply chain network: a South African case study

This paper presents an economic optimization of a supply chain network to produce sugar and bioethanol from the first- and second-generation biomass in South Africa. A mixed-integer linear program model in combination with Google Earth® and ArcGIS was hereby developed to account for sugar demand, different feedstocks and products, as well as their distribution, tax subsidies and different processing technologies to address bioethanol production. The model was applied to two case studies depending on availability of biomass of which the results showed that the integrated bioethanol and sugar supply chain network is economically viable in South Africa. Transportation costs accounted for a significant part of the costs incurred in the supply chain, while highest profits are made when higher amounts of raw materials are available and there is no restriction relating to ethanol production. It is concluded that the 2% bioethanol-fuel blend target stipulated by the government of South Africa in the biofuel industrial strategy can be exceeded while still producing current amounts of sugar.

Wind energy in South Africa: A review of policies, institutions and programmes

South Africa is promoting renewable energy such as wind power to address the objectives of both energy security and sustainable development. This paper reviews the nature of policies, institutional set-up and programmes in place to upscale especially onshore wind energy uptake, as reflected in publicly available documents. It shows that South Africa has put in place critical policies, institutions and programmes for wind energy uptake. Among key policy documents and policies are the White Paper on Energy (1998), Renewable Energy White Paper (2003), Energy Act of 2008, and National Climate Change Response White Paper (2011). There is also the Integrated Energy Plan, the Integrated Resource Plan (2010, revised 2013) and Environmental Impact Assessment Guidelines for Renewable Energy Projects of 2015. Key institutions noted include the South African National Energy Development Institute, the South African Renew-able Energy Council and the South African Wind Energy Association. The main programme is the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme, which resulted in more than 30 installed wind energy projects. Overall, wind energy promises to be among the viable and acceptable technologies in the renewable energy sector in South Africa.

Commercial-Scale Renewable Energy in South Africa and its Progress to Date

While South Africa’s electricity sector is heavily coal-dependent, the country has recently become an attractive destination for commercial‑scale renewable energy investment. This article examines ongoing developments and challenges to the country’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers’ Procurement Programme (RE IPPPP), from inception as a feed-in tariff in 2007, to its launch as a competitive bidding programme in 2011. The article discusses how the programme emerged out of a set of national conditions combined with international trends in renewable energy investment and technology development. The programme’s successes include progressive requirements for socioeconomic development. However, since 2016, South Africa’s renewable energy industry has faced complex challenges, including resistance by the electricity utility Eskom, itself embroiled within scandals of state capture and corruption, as well as the ability of Eskom’s transmission grid to integrate renewable energy generation. Subsequent delays to the programme have generated uncertainty for stakeholders and the future of the industry.

Torrefaction of waste biomass for application in energy production in South Africa

Power producing plants are major emitters of greenhouse gases that lead to global warming and climate changes. In the past two to three decades, attention has been drawn to organizations such as these reduce their dependence on coal reserves which are depleting and focus on producing clean energy i.e. for every ton of fuel produced, 100 kg or more should be made from clean energy. This has made torrefaction to gain interest as it improves energy content of biomass, a renewable and clean energy source, to levels equal to and sometimes above that of coal. The benefit of this is that, torrefied biomass could be co-fired with coal thereby reducing greenhouse gases and global warming.In this study, the effect of different parameters were investigated on two abundant sources of biomass in South Africa. There parameters were temperature, oxygen content, heating rate and residence time. It was observed that a temperature range between 275 and 300 °C under inert conditions with a heating rate of 10 °C/min and residence time between 20 and 40 min were required to achieve the best biomass with properties comparable to those of coal. This made it possible to co-fire the biomass with coal for energy production at different proportions.

Legal and policy barriers to renewable and sustainable energy sources in South Africa

Renewable energy is growing worldwide in terms of generation capacity and investment inflows. However, barriers to the transition to renewable energy remain in many countries. This article analyses the barriers to renewable energy in South Africa in the context of global growth, which in 2014, saw South Africa in the top 10 of investments into renewable energy. Regulation through law has potential to address many of the barriers to renewable energy, but investors should understand the nature and extent of these barriers to guide future investment decisions into renewable energy. Law is one of the social, regulatory, and economic instruments that can be used to control and shape development. However, in South Africa the energy and environmental law and policy have not sufficiently addressed the obstacles to renewable energy technologies. Cheap fossil fuel energy led to short-term economic growth, which, in the long term, is not environmentally sustainable. While a lot has been done to enable renewable energy, challenges remain that may make it difficult for investors and foreign corporations to enter the South African renewable energy market. This article concludes that, while the context (socioeconomic and political) of obstacles to renewable energy is relevant, legal and policy barriers are overriding and should be the focus of effort in order to create an enabling regulatory environment.

Renewable energy in South Africa's minerals-energy complex: a ‘low carbon’ transition?

This paper questions the extent to which the introduction of utility-scale, privately generated renewable energy into South Africa's coal-dominated electricity supply can be considered a ‘low-carbon transition’. Rather, the renewable energy projects in question are embedded within and contribute to South Africa's high-carbon, electricity-intensive ‘minerals–energy complex’. An empirical consideration is provided of some of the stakeholders involved in the implementation of the wind industry in South Africa, and the possibilities and pitfalls for its long-term sustainability.

The possible relation between bio-fuels, agriculture and the demand for food in South African cities

Global food security is constantly faced with new challenges as new driving forces emerge. One of these new emerging driving forces is the link between the demand for energy and agriculture, specifically with regards to food security discourses. This paper provides an overview of the discourses around bio-fuels and also more specifically the situation with regards to bio-fuels in South Africa; South Africa's agricultural productivity post-1994; food security and urbanization in South Africa and food supply to urban centres. The paper concludes by pointing out that the growth of bio-fuel production coupled with levels of agricultural unproductiveness in South Africa can have a potentially negative impact on urban food supply.

Wind power to the people: overcoming legal, policy and social barriers to wind energy development in South Africa

Wind energy project development in the Republic of South Africa has advanced rapidly following the issuance of a renewable energy feed-in tariff by the government in 2009. However, the legal, policy and social aspects of this technology are proving to be the most difficult obstacles for wind energy proponents to surmount. This article takes a close look at the energy history of South Africa, the realities policymakers face today, the shifting ethics of energy law and the actions of key stakeholders to date. The Draft Integrated Resource Plan (IRP2) has set firm targets for wind energy capacity development, but macro policy does not seem to properly integrate emerging norms in African energy governance. The IRP2 does recognize that social policy strategies need to be developed in order to make the wind energy sector flourish in South Africa, but little scope to any such strategy is given by this important policy document. A new relationship must be forged between industry, government and communities to help drive the rollout of wind energy in South Africa.

Renewable energy in South Africa: Potentials, barriers and options for support

The challenge of transforming entire economies is enormous; even more so if a country is as fossil fuel based and emission intensive as 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. The South African electricity sector is a vital part of the economy and at the same time contributes most to the emissions problem. First steps have been taken by the South African government to enhance energy efficiency and promote renewable energy, however, they fail to show large-scale effects. This paper seeks to identify the relevant barriers to renewable energy investments and, based on experience from other countries, provide policy recommendations. The major barrier identified in the paper is based on the economics of renewable energy technologies, i.e. their cost and risk structures, two main factors in investment planning. As a solution, the South African government introduced several renewable energy support measures, such as a feed-in tariff. The paper discusses the potential and possible shortcomings of this and other existing support schemes and identifies complementing measures on a national scale.

Renewable energy policy in South Africa: policy options for renewable electricity

Investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency is important to reduce the negative economic, social and environmental impacts of energy production and consumption in South Africa. Currently, renewable energy contributes relatively little to primary energy and even less to the consumption of commercial energy. This article examines policy options for promoting renewable electricity. Feed-in tariffs guarantee prices for developers, but lack certainty on the amount of renewable electricity such laws would deliver under local conditions. Portfolio standards set a fixed quantity, which would guarantee diversity of supply. The question is whether the incremental upfront cost to be paid by society may be unacceptably high, compared to future health and environmental benefits. A renewables obligation combines the setting of a target with a tendering process, but may be bureaucratic to administer. Neither setting targets or regulating prices alone, however, will be sufficient. Power purchase agreements, access to the grid and creating markets for green electricity are some supporting activities that should be considered. Given that renewable electricity technologies have to compete with relatively low electricity tariffs, funding will be needed. Possible sources, both locally and internationally, are identified. The extent to which these are utilised will determine the future mix of renewable energy in South Africa.

The economics of wind energy in South Africa

Battery charging and water pumping has been the only applications for wind energy in South Africa till now. A conservative estimate of the wind resource indicates that approximately 5% to 6% of the South African energy demands can be supplied from wind. However the low cost of electricity due to the abundance of cheap coal has made it difficult to justify the use of grid connected wind turbines. As with other countries where wind energy is now a part of the total energy package, South Africa will also have to go through a process of wind energy having to prove itself as a viable option while at the same time have a cost disadvantage.

Wind energy in South Africa

Wind, in South Africa, has been a source of energy for many years but at the same time it is taking as much time and effort to receive the recognition it deserves as anywhere else in the world. The wind resource is comparable to a number of areas in the world where wind is exploited as a grid connected source of electrical energy. Although the environmental impact of conventional sources of energy is not as wide spread as most of the industrial nations some areas should be looked at critically. Wind as a bulk generator of energy is tentatively being looked at with some demonstration projects being planned.