Gas Versus Solar: South Africa’s Battle to Ditch Coal

With an energy mix dominated by aging and increasingly unreliable coal power plants, South Africans have been putting up with rolling blackouts all the way back to 2007. The government’s latest energy strategy lays out a path to reduce these electricity shortages by replacing coal-fired generation. But rather than renewables being the natural successor, the focus is instead on gas.

On today’s show, Dana is joined by BloombergNEF’s Head of Regional Energy Transitions, Emma Champion. Together they discuss why South Africa is still looking to fossil fuels for its power supply, why the new energy blueprint has rolled back utility-scale solar targets as smaller rooftop installations boom, and the attractiveness of the country as a renewable energy investment opportunity versus other markets in the region.

Complementary BNEF research on the trends driving the transition to a lower-carbon economy can be found at BNEF<GO> on the Bloomberg Terminal, on bnef.com or on the BNEF mobile app.

Links to research notes from this episode:

South Africa Favors Gas Over Solar as Successor to Coal - https://www.bnef.com/insights/33121

Climatescope 2023 - https://www.bnef.com/insights/32751

South Africa Power Transition Outlook - https://www.bnef.com/insights/32751

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