Sustainable development for a greener South Africa

South Africa's renewable energy plan took off in 2011, when the Pretoria government understood that the sun and wind were strategic for sustainable development.

That year, the Renewable Energy Independent Power Procurement Programme (REIPPP), a program to encourage worldwide investment in the renewable energy sector, was launched.

REIPP is a global success story in renewable energy, as it managed to bring together private sector expertise and public investment in a competitive auction system. In 2019, South Africa had an installed renewable capacity of 5,000 MW, which will increase to 17,800 MW by 2030.

Main plants in the country

The first power plant in the South African country was the Upington PV park, inaugurated in 2014 and with an installed capacity of 10 MW. This was followed by the Tom Burke PV power plant (66 MW), declared a point of national interest in 2017.

Subsequently, three new solar farms were inaugurated: Adams, Pulida and Paleisheuwel, all with 82.5 MW of installed capacity.

But in addition to the sun, wind also makes a key contribution to South Africa's renewable energy contribution; this thanks to the Nojoli wind farm and the Gibson Bay power plant. Gibson Bay is the largest power plant in the country, with 37 wind turbines with a capacity of 3 MW each and a total capacity of 111 MW.

In September 2017, EGP surpassed the important milestone of 1 TWh of energy emitted to the South African grid since the inauguration of the Upington power plant.

Moreover, the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) launched a €200 million green bond in 2021 to finance climate change initiatives across the country.

The loan is aligned with the country's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement program, aimed at boosting domestic renewable energy investment and production, and to accelerate sustainable and climate-friendly projects.

The new green age

In the midst of the growing energy and food crisis, uncertain global economic prospects and the increasing impact of climate change, a sustainable industrial transformation is needed today to reduce the development gap between countries, meet climate targets and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The UN's Financing for Sustainable Development Report 2023 states that urgent and massive investments are needed to accelerate transformations, including in electricity supply, industry, agriculture and buildings.

The energy crisis triggered by the Ukraine War has spurred global energy transition investment, which reached a record $1.1 trillion in 2022. Investments for the energy transition exceeded those for fossil fuel systems for the first time in 2022, but almost all of them took place in China and developed countries. South Africa is not far behind, though.

The report calls for a new generation of sustainable industrial policies, backed by integrated national planning, to scale up investments and lay the groundwork for the necessary transformations.

Flyers 365 brings you all the catalogs of your favorite stores in South Africa. But it also shows you what the reality of the green transition looks like, in which noble energies are of great importance.