Renewable energy in South Africa
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SOUTH AFRICA, 2016/06/18
Already the continent’s major producer of renewable energy, South Africa is moving to further reduce its reliance on hydrocarbons by expanding private sector investments in solar and wind projects, and introducing biofuels.
Under the Renewable Energy Power Producer’s Programme launched in 2011, the contribution of independent power producers (IPPs) to generation is expected to reach approximately 7 GW by mid-2016, Tina Joemat-Pettersson, minster of energy, said in a budget address in mid-May.
A further 1.8 GW of new renewable projects are currently being evaluated, with a decision on tenders to be announced later this year.
Private investments since 2011 by IPPs in renewable capacity have topped R194bn ($12.3bn), a figure set to expand through this year, the minister said during the same speech.
Given the scope and scale of new projects coming on-line, South Africa appears to be on course to achieve its renewable target of 17.8 GW by 2030, the minister added.
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SOUTH AFRICA, 2015/10/10
Cape Town, South Africa — Teams from two South African universities have taken solar-powered cars to Australia to compete in an international rally and showcase their government's efforts to inspire green technology at home.
The Hulamin and the Sirius X25, created by the University of KwaZulu-Natal and North-West University respectively, have by presently had success in a South African rally.
As they prepare for the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge on October 18-25, the cars' promoters say the vehicles have left innovation and a desire for clean energy in their wake, sparking interest in engineering, and particularly in electric vehicles.
The two universities are part five that in 2012 each received 330,000 rand ($24,000 at today's exchange rate) from the South African government's Technology Innovation Agency to develop vehicles and compete in the Sasol Solar Challenge, an eight-day race from Pretoria to Cape Town held in 2014.
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SOUTH AFRICA, 2013/05/18
Africa's biggest economy has long promised a change to its carbon-intensive energy mix. A successful tender process is making that dream a reality.
South Africa's efforts to grow its green energy sector are beginning to bear fruit. A public tender for independent renewable power providers – launched in 2011 – is delivering chunky investments, and last week marked the deadline for the signing and financial close of the second wave of bids with a third round due to kick off in July.
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SOUTH AFRICA, 2013/04/10
Standard Bank Group and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) have inked a R20 billion (US$2.2 billion) transaction to fund renewable energy projects in South Africa. The finance transaction was signed by ICBC’s chairman Jiang Jianqing and Standard Bank Group’s joint chief executive Ben Kruger.
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SOUTH AFRICA, 2013/04/08
South Africa is making a number of steps towards introducing electric vehicles. The potential benefits are numerous but so are the challenges. It seems that South Africa's automobiles may be on the road to going electric.
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SOUTH AFRICA, 2013/01/01
The South African government on Monday announced that 47 billion rands (about 5.4 billion U.S. dollars) will be spent in developing the prime-phase renewable energy.
This was revealed by South Africa's Energy Minister Dipuo Peters while she addressed the media in the administrative capital of Pretoria.
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SOUTH AFRICA, 2012/11/02
Pretoria — The Department of Energy says it is expecting R47 billion to be invested in the country through Window 1 of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPP).The department introduced the REIPPP in August 2011, with the first bid submission for Window 1 scheduled for 4 November 2011.
