• The African Energy Chamber has launched a market report detailing the state of energy generation in South Africa for 2023.
• According to the report, the country’s industry leads in terms of electricity demand, far outpacing the residential sector and others.
• The report states that South Africa’s renewable energy market is set to reach 13 209MW by the end of 2023.

Despite a short break earlier this week, loadshedding is once again a daily occurrence in South Africa. Since 2008, the most industrialised nation in Africa has dealt with rolling blackouts which have only worsened since then.

The electricity shortage in the country is considered a crisis, with the government declaring a national state of disaster in order to begin addressing loadshedding and returning the beleaguered economy back on track.

On Thursday, in order to offer an overview of South Africa’s energy sector, the African Energy Chamber launched its local market report – the State of South African Energy 2023.

African Energy Chamber says the report, “serves as a guide to the current challenges and upcoming opportunities across the southern African country’s power generation sector, with focus placed on the country’s renewable energy and hydrocarbon markets.”

The report outlines that South Africa is dealing with “extreme power outages” due to its high dependence on ageing coal-fired power plants. The country’s power generation capacity sits at approximately 195TWh (1TWh is around 1 million MWh).

In terms of electricity demand, the industrial sector represents 54 percent of the energy usage, followed by residential demand at 21 percent, commercial and public services at 16 percent, and 2 percent from the transport sector.

The report forecasts that the country’s generation capacity is set to increase to 240TWh by 2030, with the commercial and public services sector demand expected to increase to 19 percent, while industry is poised to increase to 55 percent, with residential demand set to rise to 22 percent and the transport sector decreasing to 1 percent.

According to the report then, the country’s industry is and will continue to be the largest user of electricity in the country, and contributes the largest amount to the need for loadshedding.

Eskom will occasionally ask the public to reduce their energy usage, meanwhile, household electricity usage is far beneath what the industry uses.

South Africa predominantly uses coal-fired power plants to meet its electricity generation needs, accounting for approximately 89 percent of the country’s total power generation.

Currently, the country has a total installed capacity of 62.7GW, most of which is generated from coal. The country is currently diversifying its power generation mix by attracting investment into its renewables sector, however, the report notes that coal is likely to remain the primary source of electricity for the country in the near future.

The South African government is working on a National Development Plan as a framework for creation of future power generation in the country, at least until 2030.

An additional 29 500MW of electricity capacity, led by renewables is set to be added to the grid as part of this plan.

The Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy’s Integrated Resources Plan, which was signed in October 2019, is also expected to result in the decommissioning of over 10 000MW of coal-fired power plants by 2030.

As such, the new capacity will include 6 800MW of renewable power, 3 000MW of gas, 1 500MW of coal, and 513MW of pumped storage.

In February, the South African government launched a tax incentive aimed at private individuals looking to install solar power.

Basically, if you were to install R40 000 worth of solar panelling on your home you would be able to claim back 25 percent of that fee or R10 000, with a R15 000 cap on how much you can claim back.

Finally, the Africa Energy Chamber report details how South Africa’s renewable energy market is poised to reach 13 209MW by the end of 2023 due to new energy legislation and power purchase agreements.

“Private sector participation has the potential to alleviate pressure on the country’s ailing power networks in the wake of its ongoing energy crisis,” it concludes.

You can check out the full report here.

[Image – Patrick Hendry on Unsplash]