South Africa plans to install 14,000 km of new transmission lines to accommodate renewable energy and is inviting private investment in this area through innovative models, President Cyril Ramaphosa said in his address to the nation on Thursday.
The country is instituting a series of reforms aimed at improving generation and transmission capacity while encouraging the private uptake of renewable energy. Reforms include tax incentives and financial support for rooftop solar; the removal of the licensing threshold for embedded power generation; and the tabling of the Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill in 2023.
To stimulate investment in green technologies, the country is also establishing a Special Economic Zone in the Boegoebaai port in the Northern Cape province. According to President Ramaphosa, “There is a great deal of interest from the private sector to participate in the boom that will be generated [by] green hydrogen projects.”
More than 120 private energy projects are already under development due to regulatory reform, with more than 2.5 GW of solar and wind power connected to the grid through the Renewable Energy Power Producer Procurement program. “Three times this amount is already in procurement or construction,” President Ramaphosa said.
Additional areas of focus by the government include supporting electric vehicle manufacturing; bolstering industrialization; and prioritizing economic opportunities such as job creation in regions such as Mpumalanga.