South Africa Energy Dashboard

Grid Summary

In January 2008, the Department of Minerals and Energy and Eskom released a new policy document, “National response to South Africa’s electricity shortage”. The plan includes work on the country’s electricity distribution structure and the fast-tracking of electricity projects by independent power producers. It also involves electricity co-generation projects between Eskom and private industry, where the heat generated as a by-product of industrial processes in sectors such as chemicals is captured to produce power that can be used by the industries themselves, or bought by Eskom for the national grid. At the same time, the new plan outlines the importance of reducing demand by pricing electricity correctly as well as promoting energy efficiency and deterring energy inefficiency. Eskom aims to reduce demand by about 3,000 MW by 2012 and a further 5,000 MW by 2025 through an aggressive campaign which will includes promoting the use of solar-powered geysers as well as liquid petroleum gas for cooking. The building of new capacity, in the form of reopening 3 power stations that were mothballed in the 1990s, the building of 2 open-cycle gas turbines and co-generation with business, is expected to add 2,400 MW to total capacity by the end of 2009. Plans also include building a new generation of power stations, with the first due to come on stream in 2012...more information.

South Africa is committed to fulfilling its constitutional obligations to deliver socio-economic rights within the context of its national plan of action, Vision 2014, and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In South Africa, one of the indicators of progress towards the achievement of the MDGs is the effective and equitable delivery of public services. While significant achievements have already been made in areas such as access to basic water supply, improvement in service delivery remains a priority. Since 1994 South Africa has set out to rigorously dismantle the apartheid system and to create a democratic society based on the principles of equity, non-racialism and non-sexism. To achieve these objectives the Government of South Africa has pledged to promote equality and eradicate poverty (MDGs 1 and 3). The 1994 Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) defined the procedure, and its guidelines have informed all governmental policies post-1994. Through the RDP, a commitment was made to meet basic needs; invest in the economy; democratize the State and society, develop human resources, and build a new South Africa...more information.