Power crisis an opportunity for South African renewables

Accelerating and liberalising solar and wind power procurement is central to the government’s latest pledge to tackle crippling electricity shortages

Such is the crisis facing South Africa’s creaking electricity sector, President Cyril Ramaphosa was forced to make a special national address in late July to explain the government’s short- and long-term strategy to alleviate the worsening blackouts infuriating residents and businesses alike. Amid familiar promises to restructure heavily-indebted utility Eskom were concrete measures designed to accelerate installation of new generation capacity—primarily of renewables—to plug a multi-gigawatt shortfall. Wind and solar accounted for under 7pc of the total power capacity at end-2021. Pretoria’s renewables rollout thus far has been patchy and hindered by red tape, with the domestic coal lobby a