Powering progress — what South Africa’s masterplan to develop a renewable energy industry aims to achieve
The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy is calling for comments and input on its proposed industrialisation plan for South Africa’s renewable energy value chain.
The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), in partnership with industry, experts, labour representatives and various governmental entities, has birthed an initiative known as the South African Renewable Energy Masterplan (Sarem).
But don’t be fooled by the name; it is not an energy plan.
Sarem’s ambitions are clear: to harness the burgeoning demand for renewable energy technologies in a way that not only brings about industrial progress but also fosters an inclusive era of development, interwoven with the transformative potential inherent in renewable energy and battery storage value chains. That it aligns well with South Africa’s broader decarbonisation agenda is seemingly tangential.
In a webinar this week, Gaylor Montmasson Clair, a senior economist at Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies and the Sarem facilitator, divulged more details about the plan and what it aims to achieve.
He noted, “The growth of the renewable energy industry … it’s a typical kind of hockey stick graph with exponential growth that we are seeing. And that is the positive side of the story. We’re really seeing renewable energy growing.
“Of course, the other side of the story is that these are imports … and it is a missed opportunity to produce those things domestically and create an industry and answer those needs through domestic manufacturing.”
He explained that this is precisely what Sarem hopes to address.
“So that is really the opportunity that Sarem aims to answer. It’s acknowledging the booming market for renewable energy and battery storage technologies, both domestically and globally, and it sees that as an opportunity for the country to drive industrial and inclusive development. And these are the two, effectively, the two key goals of Sarem.”
Unprecedented growth
According to the International Energy Agency’s Renewable Energy Market Update, “Global renewable capacity additions are set to soar by 107 gigawatts (GW), the largest absolute increase ever, to more than 440GW in 2023.
“This unprecedented growth is being driven by expanding policy support, growing energy security concerns and improving competitiveness against fossil fuel alternatives,” the report notes.
South African Renewable Energy MasterplanDownload
Article courtesy Daily Maverick
Alexis Knipe
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