Page 11 - AfrElec Week 29 2021
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AfrElec RENEWABLES AfrElec
SA C&I sector starts to make
inroads into solar PV market
SOUTH AFRICA THE South African solar PV market installed and industry work to meet the increasing energy
1,313 MW during 2020, broken down into 813 needs of the country as it embarks on a post-
MW of utility-scale systems and 500 MW of dis- COVID-19 economic recovery.
tributed generation. “The commitment of President Cyril Rama-
This took the country’s cumulative solar PV phosa to amend Schedule 2 of the Electric-
capacity to 4,172 MW, 2,372 MW of which is ity Regulation Act, and to raise the licensing
provided by utility-scale solar. exemption threshold for distributed generation
In a statement, the South African Photovol- facilities from 1 MW to 100 MW, should cause a
taic Industry Association (SAPVIA) said it is rapid increase in the development of large-scale
estimated that 20% of the 500 MW of distributed distributed generation projects.
energy consists of residential systems, with the “This work on updating the regulations that
C&I sector contributing the great bulk of rooftop will allow municipalities to develop and procure
capacity. their own power generation projects shows that
This tallies with the uptake of solar PV into the government is working hard to create the
the African C&I sector over the past few years, right policy environment to let the industry fully
according to the African Solar Industry Associa- realise the IRP2019 targets,” said Tshehla.
tion’s Africa Solar Report, released early in 2021. He pointed out the solar PV market in South
That report said while large-scale solar pro- Africa still faces challenges and SAPVIA recom-
jects have dominated the sector over the past mends the IRP should be reviewed and updated
few years, the C&I energy landscape is booming. to better enable government policy planning.
Their data suggests the C&I sector could repre- According to Tshehla, progress has been
sent 30-40% of all solar capacity installed over hampered by a lack of consistency in the pro-
the next few years. curement of solar PV projects. “However, it must
South Africa’s Integrated Resource Plan be noted that over the last 12 months the govern-
(IRP2019) outlines a new additional capacity ment has responded with pace and urgency. For
of 6 GW utility-scale solar PV and 6 GW of dis- the industry to fully realise the opportunities of
tributed generation – the majority of which is renewable energy and solar PV specifically, we
anticipated to come from solar – to be installed need long-term commitments from the govern-
by 2030. ment to procure on a more consistent basis.”
The IRP2019 is based on least-cost electric- “If industry is confident of a future procure-
ity supply and demand balance, considering ment pipeline, they will then invest with confi-
security of supply and the environment, and will dence in local manufacturing, which could then
result in a 400%+ increase of solar PV by 2030. develop and thrive, offering more local opportu-
“This will increase the PV installed capacity from nities for employment and upskilling,” he said.
3% of the current total electricity supply to 11% SAPVIA believes it is a matter of urgency to
by 2030,” said SAPVIA spokesperson Maloba address capacity challenges at distributor level,
Tshehla. implement the correct and most appropriate
Solar PV and renewable energy procurement bureaucratic processes to allow policy to be
in SA needs long-term commitments for pro- implemented and create space for more innova-
curement from government tive funding models to allow participation from
Tshehla pointed out the country’s policy non-traditional investors.
landscape continues to change as government
Week 29 22•July•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P11
