South Africa’s electricity policy is at a crossroads. Its historical dependence on cheap coal for approximately 90 per cent of its electricity generation is under threat from a variety of factors. This paper firstly examines how the governance of South Africa’s electricity is inextricably bound up with the country’s historical dependence on cheap coal for export-oriented industry and complex political and economic legacy which has shaped its minerals-energy complex (Fine and Rustomjee 1996). Secondly it finds that despite regulatory hold-ups and departmental tensions, power dynamics in the electricity sector are shifting with the potential introduction of private renewable energy generation into the energy mix.

Publication date
Type of publication
Document
Objective
Adaptation
Approach
Community based
Collection
Eldis
CTCN Keyword Matches
South Africa
Coal transport
Africa
Small-scale Combined Heat and Power