The announcement was made in a published Government Gazette notice signed by H.E. Barbara Creecy, Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries. The REDZs are critical for the expansion of South Africa’s energy mix and will increase renewable energy developments country-wide.

In October, two new utility-scale solar power plants started operations in South Africa. The two new plants, Aggeneys Solar and Konkoonsies II Solar, will add a collective 132MW to South Africa’s generation capacity.

Robert Skjodt, chief executive at BioTherm Energy told the media, “This is a significant milestone, that sees the first two of our four South African renewable energy power plants feeding the grid. There is no doubt that renewable energy offers vast opportunities and should play a pivotal role in the country’s economic recovery strategy. It will not only improve the security of supply but also deliver the many economic and social co-benefits associated with South Africa’s renewable energy programme.”

Non-hydro renewable energy such as solar is expected to remain below 10 percent in Africa by 2030. It is reported that total electricity generation is likely to double over the next decade. However, fossil fuel will continue its dominance in the energy sector.

According to a study conducted by the University of Oxford, found that two-thirds of electricity generated across the continent will come from fossil fuels. That said, an additional 18 percent will be generated from hydropower, which has its own set of challenges.

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According to media reports, Cenfura and C4D will deliver the first tokenised assets to microgrids in the Gauteng Province of South Africa in the first quarter of 2020.

The project by Cenfura and C4D will help the gated societies in South Africa become environmental friendly and to reduce their reliance on the national power grid for energy.

Cenfura President and chief executive Randall Meals told the media, “We are very excited to be finally implementing these plans that we have worked extremely hard on – this is the culmination of a lot of great work from our team.”
Cenfura is committed to accelerate the adoption of fully distributed renewable energy across the globe.

In November 2019, South Africa announced that it will establish three new special geographic zones for fast-tracking renewable energy projects. This follows the government’s announcement of multi-gigawatt PV and wind plans for the next 10 years.

The announcement was made by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in collaboration with the national Department of Environment, Forestry, and Fisheries. The new special geographic zones will take South Africa’s total to 11.

With South Africa’s state-owned utility company Eskom in a crisis, many companies, both domestic and foreign see it as an opportunity. According to media reports, many companies are looking to speed up the use of renewable sources like wind and solar energy to fill the gap left by Eskom.

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HI Holdings is a clean energy company located in Cape Town. The company aims to build the 140MW Kangnas wind farm in Northern Cape province and 110MW Perdekraal East Wind Farm in Western Cape.

HI Holdings was established in 2000. 

Media reports said that the financing will take place by means of ‘innovative funding’ established by UK Climate Investment along with HI Holdings. The funding is to bolster Black Economic Empowerment entities, media reports stated. 

Nearly 40 percent of construction, operations and maintenance staff will be employed and trained from local communities for those wind projects — capable of supplying enough clean energy for 200,000 households. It is anticipated to mitigate 844,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

The projects are expected to commence commercial operations by the end of 2020. That said, a Kruisvallei hydro project with a capacity of 4MW in Free State province will also reap benefits through ‘critical financing’, according to the official press release. 

UK Climate Investment Managing Director Richard Abel said: “Over 90 percent of electricity generation capacity in South Africa currently relies on fossil fuels. Our partnership with H1 Holdings supports the country’s transition to a new energy mix — promoting cleaner growth in southern Africa’s largest economy whilst stimulating economic development in rural areas and supporting increased BEE participation in the renewables sector.”

Currently, 90 percent of electricity generated from South Africa is dependent on fossil fuels. The partnership is hoped to pave the way for new energy generation capacity in the country. It is UK Climate Investment’s second investment in Sub-Saharan Africa.

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