In the face of rising electricity costs, persistent power outages (loadshedding), and the emergence of domestic and international carbon taxes, there has never been a better time for businesses in South Africa to adopt renewable energy (RE) to realise significant savings on their electricity bills, lower their tax liability, secure a reliable supply of electricity, and reduce their carbon footprint.
This study focuses on an assessment of RE adoption pathways without a “loadshedding lens”. In particular, it focuses on the commercial viability of different RE adoption pathways and mechanisms (off-site versus on-site, power purchase agreement versus self-owned) by quantifying the savings businesses can achieve on their utility bills and their carbon tax liability by decarbonising their energy source. Furthermore, the study focuses on medium-sized manufacturing firms with a moderate energy profile, and on solar PV generation as it is unlikely that wind can be deployed on-site by most businesses in an urban setting. It explores the key pathways available to businesses for adopting PV; describes the core assumptions used in the model to generate the results for each adoption pathway; presents results and observations for three different sizes of installed RE capacity, with and without battery energy storage systems, for a representative firm in Cape Town and Ekurhuleni; and summarises key findings and draws policy conclusions.