gcd_workingpaper015.pdf (728.47 kB)
Governing electricity in South Africa: wind, coal and power struggles
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posted on 2023-06-08, 23:03 authored by Lucy BakerSouth Africa’s electricity policy is at a crossroads. Its historical dependence on cheap coal for approximately 90 per cent of its electricity generation is under threat. This paper firstly examines how the governance of South Africa’s electricity is inextricably bound up with the country’s historical dependence on cheap coal for export-oriented industry and complex political and economic legacy which has shaped its minerals-energy complex (Fine and Rustomjee 1996). Secondly it finds that despite regulatory hold-ups and departmental tensions, power dynamics in the electricity sector are shifting with the potential introduction of private renewable energy generation into the energy mix. Of this, wind is set to form the largest component. Meanwhile Eskom’s Medupi coal-fired power plant deemed as essential to the country’s generation expansion has been redefined as a ‘clean coal’ power plant following a World Bank loan of $3 billion in April 2010. The paper concludes that while vested interests in the country’s coal-based industrial trajectory are still very influential, they are simultaneously challenged with rising coal costs, imminent national electricity supply shortages and increasing tariffs, a funding crisis of the electricity utility, the demands of climate change mitigation and emerging stakeholders in renewable generation.
Funding
The Governance of Clean Development: CDM and Beyond; G0653; ESRC-ECONOMIC & SOCIAL RESEARCH COUNCIL; D00204
History
Publication status
- Published
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- Published version
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Tyndall Centre for Climate Change ResearchPlace of publication
NorwichDepartment affiliated with
- SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit Publications
Institution
University of East AngliaFull text available
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2015-11-04First Open Access (FOA) Date
2016-03-22First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2016-03-22Usage metrics
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