South Africa’s changing energy landscape and the role of procurement in contributing to the Just Energy Transition
Project period:
2023 to 2024
Project Description:
Procurement is an essential tool which has played a pivotal role in setting South Africa towards the path of an energy transition. However, as the country further progresses through and faces an energy crisis
Through the REIPPPP, which has historically been the main procurement instrument for large scale renewable capacity, the procurement of RE has been a supporting instrument to the energy transition, serving the dual role of transitioning to novel renewable energy technologies while providing a reliable stream of investment and promoting socioeconomic development.
With the discourse on the Just Energy Transition taking shape in South Africa, and at this crucial turn of South African history, particularly in the context where there is a need to urgently procure generation capacity to address the ongoing energy crisis, there is a value to critically reflect on the principles that the Procurement Framework must align with to be considered Just and which will support the objectives of the Just Energy Transition Framework as set by the President Climate Commission.
The thesis aims to building from the energy justice theory, the JET Framework and all the learnings from the REIPPP to theorise what a just procurement could signify for South Africa.
