It is a truism that South Africa is yet to fully exploit the potential of renewable energy - even though the government has long had the intention to reduce reliance on fossil-based fuel.
Coal - of which South Africa has abundant and cheap supplies - accounts for about 75% of primary energy consumption in the country.
Recent electricity supply constraints and the reality that electricity tariffs are set to increase substantially have made the search for alternative sources of energy more urgent.
The government made its intentions clear as far back as 1998 when, in its energy white paper, it lauded the role that renewable energy plays in economic development. "Successful tapping of all possible energy carriers in our country is vital for sustainable economic growth and development," Penuell Maduna, then minister of minerals and energy, said in his comment.
The paper, which laid the foundation for post-apartheid energy policy, says renewable energy offers good off-grid electricity supply options especially for rural communities, thus ensuring wider access to sustainable electricity.
"Government believes that renewables can in many cases provide the least-cost energy service, particularly when social and environmental costs are included, and will therefore provide focused support for the development, demonstration and applications of renewable energy," the document says.
The government wants about 10000GWh of electricity to be produced from renewable sources by 2013.
But without an appropriate market mechanism, renewable energy investors have shunned the local market.
To address this, the National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) last year published renewable energy feed-in tariff guidelines for wind (R1.25/kWh), small hydro (94c/kWh), landfill gas (90c/kWh) and concentrated solar (R2.10/kWh).
Mandy Rambharos, Eskom's climate change and sustainability manager, says the utility has spoken with the government and Nersa on the need for a regulatory environment that supports renewable energy including policy and appropriate tariffs.
"Eskom is also now engaged in government's review of the national renewable energy white paper. Eskom has collaboration with the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) to provide seed funding for renewable energy projects in the country," Rambharos says.
Eskom has a research programme focusing on ways to harness South Africa's renewable energy sources for power generation. It is also looking to increase the renewable component of its supply mix.
The long-term strategic energy plan includes a mix of all viable sources, including renewable energy, to be implemented where they are commercially viable, Rambharos says.
The two most advanced areas under investigation are wind-generated power and concentrating solar thermal. In addition, Eskom's demand side management programme offers incentives for solar water heating - and is looking to further stimulate this industry, she said.
"Eskom's concentrating solar power (CSP) project forms part of our South African Bulk Renewable Energy Generation programme. The research will establish the feasibility of using CSP as a large-scale generation option for Eskom.
"If implemented, the proposed plant will be the largest molten salt-type central receiver project in the world, which will represent a significant step in establishing solar power as a major future energy supply option in South Africa."
Rambharos said there was much interest in the field of wave energy but the industry is still in its infancy. "At least five more years are needed to prove the feasibility of this alternative energy source and its technologies," she said.
Eskom has researched ocean wave power along the SA coastline. The study shows that there is sufficient wave energy, which warranted further investigation. Eskom is busy with a technology selection process, after which a feasibility study to determine the costs of an ocean wave plant as part of the power generation mix will be conducted, Rambharos said.
Eskom has also decided to invest in a 100MW wind facility.
James Arnott, senior executive: resources at Accenture SA, said the government's aspirations regarding the promotion of renewable energy are noble. "But one of the challenges of renewable energy is that it is not cheap. The higher costs of electricity reduce accessibility - higher costs are due to higher tariffs per kWh," Arnott said.
To get renewable energy players into the SA market requires an appropriate tariff structure, clear policy and appropriate energy markets.
Nersa has recently approved a tariff structure, but its ability to incentivise investment is untested, Arnott said.
"Sustainable energy sources are not appropriate for baseload generation requirements. They are unpredictable - the sun does not always shine and the wind does not always blow. South Africa has included renewable energy as part of its long-term planning, but this does not reduce the need for continued investment in baseload requirements. The key question for the future will be nuclear versus coal," he added.
"There is a role for renewable energy. It is part of the future. But we must understand that aspirations and reality are sometimes divorced from each other. The reality is that renewable energy is expensive. There are no right or wrong answers, merely the consequence of the choices made.
"The government wants to encourage investment, it wants to create jobs, it wants to support social and economical uplift but at what cost. It is a question of choices. There are no magical answers, but a set of trade-offs. It is important that the trade-offs are managed at a macroeconomic level. The heavy reliance on coal-fired power stations increases SA's carbon footprint. But it allows SA to produce electricity that is cheaper and that allows people to access it."
Arnott said that, regardless of the renewable energy outlook, it was important to educate people about energy efficiency, as more emphasis on that would mean less need to build new power stations.
The most compelling case for renewable energy is the possibility of job opportunities. International research body Global Climate Network has indicated that about 36400 new direct jobs and 109100 indirect jobs could be created in the renewable energy sector in SA by 2020.
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