Banking On Clean Power

Despite a lack of clarity from government on actioning SA’s renewable energy build programme, the appetite for investment in this sector is still healthy. But this could become subdued if government fails to ensure policy certainty, among other things, writes Jaco Visser.

- Jaco Visser

While the government’s plans to restructure the sources of South Africa’s power generation over the next decade are ambitious, lack of funds can constrain any ambition. But is seems as though the appetite for funding renewable energy projects in SA remains intact – even as several risks stwill linger.

The sector, if the government’s policy on energy gets put into action and moves forward, may prove a much-needed light at the end of the local economic tunnel. It may even potentially boost Eskom’s cash flow as well. But in order for this to materialise, the caveat remains: National Treasury must continue guaranteeing the power purchase (offtake) agreements signed with independent power producers (IPPs).

The appetite for renewables

Since 2012, funders forked out R192bn to invest in renewable energy, either through debt or equity investments over seven procurement bidding rounds (which included calls for large and small suppliers) until late 2016, according to an academic article by University of Cape Town Professor Anton Eberhard in the Journal of Energy in Southern Africa. Figures from the Renewable Energy Independent Producers Procurement Programme (REIPPP) show that financial commitments to these projects topped R209bn.

This investment that took place has seen 6 422MW of renewable energy procured from 92 large-scale IPPs and 99MW from 20 smaller projects, according to the latest quarterly report of the government’s Independent Power Producers Office, released in June. By the end of March, 4 201MW had been connected to the grid, the report states.