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South Africa will need to spend US$250 billion over the next three decades for closing down its coal-fired power plants and to replace them with green energy, says a report released on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum
South Africa will need to spend US$250 billion over the next three decades for closing down its coal-fired power plants and to replace them with green energy, says a report released on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.
Close to US$125 billion of total investment is needed to ramp up wind and solar power projects after suspending coal-fired plants that currently meet the bulk of its energy needs. The report was authored by experts at South Africa’s Stellenbosch University along with the Blended Finance Taskforce, a body set up in 2017 to help mobilise large-scale private capital in a bid to end poverty. The project is implemented in pursuance of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Households that have been affected by the transition to renewable energy would also have to be compensated, the report says.
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Most of the money for the transition, the report says, has to come from the private sector. South Africa is the world’s 12th biggest emitter of climate-warming gases and the biggest in Africa. In November, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, and the European Union agreed to offer an US$8.5 billion package to help South Africa accelerate its transition from coal. Exact details and timelines are still being discussed for the disbursal of the fund.
