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- Janet Wilhelm
Insights into the Solar Photovoltaic manufacturing value chain in South Africa
The push for more electricity generation, particularly renewable energy generation, is likely to result in a significant increase in Solar PV projects across the country. This is turn will drive demand for the components and services. Given this context, and to add to the existing body of knowledge on the Solar PV manufacturing value chain, this report provides insights on:
- Inverter manufacturing.
- Mounting frame manufacturing.
- Materials for Solar PV.
- Imports and exports of Solar PV components.
FACTSHEET: Opportunities in South Africa's Solar PV energy value chain
RELATED RESEARCH
Insights into the Wind Energy value chain in South Africa
The state of research on renewable energy value chains in South Africa: Firms and employment characteristics
The Presidential electricity plan announced in July 2022, which is set to relax regulations for private generators and double the size of Bid Window 6 of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme, is intended to drive more renewable energy uptake. This should in turn lead to an increase in the demand for value chain manufactured components and services to RE generators.
Such a demand could create opportunities for South African suppliers and lead to employment creation. This is, however, contingent on local firms being able to respond to the opportunity with appropriate industrial development support from government. To do this, in the case of the manufacturing value chain in particular, an improved understanding is needed of local manufacturing and the firms producing materials, and their employment characteristics. This is not in place: there is significant research on South African renewable energy industries, but few studies provide details on the value chains supplying the different renewable energy industries. They also do not detail the local firms within these value chains or their employment characteristics. Only a few studies provide information on the materials used to manufacture these inputs (and the jobs associated with the materials used in renewable manufacturing value chains.
This report describes and discusses the major sources of data that exist on renewable energy firms and employment in these value chains. It concludes with some ideas on how and where to build this knowledge base.
RELATED RESEARCH
Insights into the Solar Photovoltaic manufacturing value chain in South Africa
Insights into the Wind Energy value chain in South Africa
Waste pickers and the proposed scrap-metal regulations
Concerns have arisen around the impact on waste pickers of recently gazetted draft regulations to limit the theft of metal from infrastructure by improving oversight over scrap dealers. An initial phase would ban exports of scrap for six months, followed by the implementation of new regulations imposing stricter rules on dealers, including requiring them to track identification on suppliers and to pay only through electronic mechanisms.
In evaluating the impact of the new regulations, it is important to be clear about the number of people who depend on waste picking and how much they rely on metal. This study reviews the available information on the number of waste pickers, their income from metal, and their race, gender, education and location. On that basis, the conclusions compare the cost of the proposed new restrictions on scrap metal trade for waste pickers to the potential social benefits of limiting cable theft. They then indicate affordable and practical strategies to minimise the cost of the new regulations to waste pickers.
Research report: Measures to prevent theft of scrap metal
Less than 1% of discarded textiles are recycled back into clothing
Engineering News - 27 September 2022 by Darren Parker
TIPS Imports localisation and supply chain disruption study - Fourth Quarter 2021
The Import Localisation and Supply Chain Disruption study is a quarterly report that seeks to identify goods from the list of imports identified in the Import Tracker report that South Africa could possibly viably manufacture. Each quarter focuses on five manufactured items from the list of imports in the corresponding quarter's Import Tracker report. The five products in this report are:
Product 1: Ammonium sulphate
Product 2: Sodium hydroxide "caustic soda" in aqueous solution "soda lye or liquid soda"
Product 3: Parts of machinery for working mineral substances of heading 8474, n.e.s.
Product 4: Articles of plastics and articles of other materials of heading 3901 to 3914, n.e.s: Other
Product 5: Terephthalic acid and its salts
New report offers advice on how to green the South African clothing and textile industry
The other side of SA mining’s ‘mini-boom’
Tax avoidance is increasingly damaging developing economies, says TIPS
Engineering News - 12 September 2022 by Marleny Arnoldi
Bureaucracy has shown itself to be slow and risk averse
Business Day - 12 September 2022 by Neva Makgetla (TIPS Senior Economist)
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Rapula Diale
Rapula Diale is a researcher at TIPS and has worked on several projects involving regional value chains, industrial park resilience, as well as localisation. Rapula holds a National Diploma in Chemical Engineering from the University of Johannesburg; and a Bachelor of Economics and Bachelor of Economics Honours Degree with Distinction from Rhodes University. He is currently completing a Masters of Commerce Degree in Economics at the University of The Witwatersrand. His thesis, titled South African State Capacity In Industrial Policy, looks into the country’s capacity to do industrial policy. His other research interests are in competition, regulation, and impact analysis.