Time
14 Jun 2019 / 14:00 to 15:00
Event
National Treasury, Room 2053, 20th Floor, 240 Madiba Street, Pretoria
Research seminar

Least cost integrated resource planning and climate change mitigation policy — Alternatives for the South African electricity system

SA-TIED researchers from the Energy Research Centre will share the results of their recent research on how to reduce South Africa's greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) affordably. Their research is a part of the Climate change and energy transition as drivers of change work stream of the programme. Policy makers, research staff, officials, and other programme partners will be in attendance. 

About the research

This seminar will be presented by Bryce McCall and is based on SA-TIED Working Paper #29: Least cost integrated resource planning and cost-optimal climate change mitigation policy — Alternatives for the South African electricity system.

The study provides a technical analysis of South Africa’s electricity future. The authors use the South African TIMES model and e-SAGE, which have been specifically updated for this analysis to model: national compliance with air pollution standards, more realistic cost assumptions for renewable energy and batteries, and more recent estimates of Eskom’s coal fleet performance. The paper also analyses the role of the electricity sector in meeting South Africa’s mitigation objectives. The electricity sector is currently responsible for over 40% of South Africa’s GHG emissions, and since low-carbon technologies are now cheaper than high-carbon ones (Ireland et al, 2017), the sector will play a key role in implementing South Africa’s contribution to limiting global warming to well below 2°C.

Related 

Press Release: South Africa could have a cheaper, cleaner, and more reliable energy system ...

SA-TIED research on South Africa's energy future in the news