Despite strides made to secure wind energy as a solution to power up South Africa, many challenges lie ahead.
31, 264 Megawatts (MW) of wind projects are expected to come on stream, according to a survey conducted by industry associations SAPVIA (the South African Photovoltaic Industry Association) and SAWEA (the South African Wind Energy Association) in 2023.
About 7,540 MW of this amount, is wind and battery storage.
But challenges facing the industry could stall progress, hampering the country’s efforts towards realizing its integrated energy plan.
Matthew Law, SAWEA Chairperson, and also Senior Project Manager at Red Cap Energy said the lack of clarity on grid capacity remains the number 1 challenge for developers.
He also said human resources capacity constraints could delay some 4000 renewable energy projects in the pipeline, which could have cost implications.
Speaking at a Webinar organized by SAWEA for its members, Santosh Sookgrim, from Invest SA’s One Stop Shop intervention, said a process to streamline application processes is underway. It is a permitting tool, that developers can use, and is hosted on a web portal.
Once competed, it will simplify the project application process, to include the required authorizations, provide estimated costs, and other useful information, such as providing a summary of results.
He admitted to skills shortages at the One Stop Shop and also in relevant Government Department, meant to process new applications.
An illustration of wind energy projects in the pipeline, SAWEA.
Picture: Green Buildings Africa