South Africa Blueprint Sets Out Options to Tackle Energy Crisis
- Country seeks to balance need to decarbonize, grow economy
- Renewable-energy focused route would require 166GW of capacity
Workers install solar panels at farm in Groenfontein, South Africa.
Photographer: Guillem Sartorio/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
South Africa’s updated energy blueprint envisions more than 100 gigawatts of new generation capacity being built by 2050, and proposes that a variety of technologies and fuels be considered to produce it, including solar, wind, nuclear and coal.
The most industrialized nation on the continent lacks a reliable electricity supply, resulting in frequent blackouts that crimp the economy. The Integrated Resource Plan 2023 published in the government gazette Thursday maps out multiple scenarios, such as a “least cost” plan to produce 105 gigawatts of power, and another that sees 166 gigawatts being generated from wind, solar, gas and battery storage.