Towards a legal model for decentralised renewable energy planning and determination

Abstract

South Africa has collectively with the global community made net zero pledges through a number of treaties1 and as such, it is important that the country sheds itself from any legal and implementation bottlenecks that make the uptake of renewable energy difficult. The aim of this research is to provide a perspective on how, from a legal standpoint, having decentralised themes of regulation in respect of the planning and determination of renewable energy will accelerate the uptake of renewable energy production by the private sector, and increase new generation capacity needed to ameliorate the energy crisis in South Africa. Through a qualitative analysis of energy related legislation including secondary and tertiary sources of law, the research found that having the Department of Energy and Mineral Resources (DMRE) be responsible for the drafting and updating of the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP)2 and being its custodian, has allowed the technology energy mix of South Africa to be a highly politicised process, and has thus derailed the uptake of renewable energy. The research finds that having the DMRE as the entity that solely undertakes the section 34 determinations3 is a flawed process to introducing new generation capacity that South Africa requires. The paper posits that the formulation of the IRP needs to be an open process that allows energy stakeholders such as industry, academia and communities participate and not merely provide comments as outsiders. As such, the paper concludes that regulation of renewable energy in South Africa needs to be decentralised to be efficient