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Sustainability Transitions and the Politics of Electricity Planning in South Africa

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Handbook on Sustainability Transition and Sustainable Peace

Part of the book series: Hexagon Series on Human and Environmental Security and Peace ((HSHES,volume 10))

Abstract

After decades of cheap, abundant coal-fired electricity, from which large international mining and energy conglomerates and wealthy households have benefitted disproportionately, South Africa is experiencing a supplyside crisis. In 2011, the country’s first integrated resource plan for electricity (IRP) was promulgated following a prolonged and contested consultation process throughout 2010. This plan anticipates that renewable energy will constitute twenty per cent of installed generation capacity by 2030, which will deliver approximately nine per cent of supply. Coal will retain the greatest share alongside a potential yet currently uncertain nuclear fleet. The objectives of this chapter are twofold: to examine electricity governance in South Africa and the highly politicized policy-making process in relation to IRP in which vested interests have played a major role; and to consider the extent to which the IRP has facilitated a low carbon transition. The chapter finds that despite the creation of a successful renewable energy ‘niche’, the coal-fired ‘regime’ is also being reinforced and the electricity mix under analysis is fuelling an unsustainable trajectory of production and consumption. The chapter also considers definitions of sustainability and concepts of a ‘just’ transition.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex, Falmer, UK

    Lucy Baker

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Correspondence to Lucy Baker .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. AFES-PRESS, AG Friedensforschung und Europäische Sicherheitspolitik, Mosbach, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

    Hans Günter Brauch

  2. (UNAM), National Autonomous Univ. of Mexico (UNAM), Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico

    Úrsula Oswald Spring

  3. Department of Political Science, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    John Grin

  4. Res. Group Climate Change and Security, Hamburg University ZMAW, Hamburg, Germany

    Jürgen Scheffran

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Baker, L. (2016). Sustainability Transitions and the Politics of Electricity Planning in South Africa. In: Brauch, H., Oswald Spring, Ú., Grin, J., Scheffran, J. (eds) Handbook on Sustainability Transition and Sustainable Peace . Hexagon Series on Human and Environmental Security and Peace, vol 10. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43884-9_37

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