South Africa Energy Ethekwini Metro Municipality Independent Power Producer (IPP)
The eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, a metropolitan municipality created in 2000 that includes the city of Durban and surrounding towns where eThekwini is one of the 11 districts of KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa, details how they plan to roll out their Energy Sector Transition through an Independent Power Producer (IPP) Program.
The Municipality laid out the following Strategic Direction of the organization for Energy Sector Transformation by focusing on:
Power Transition:
- To achieve 40% of reduced reliance on the national grid by 2030
- To achieve 100% high penetration of alternative energy supplies by 2050
Transport Transition:
- To increase uptake of Electric Vehicles by 6% annually from 2025 to 2050
- To deep decarbonize transport by introducing fuel cell electric vehicles and gas
- To increase economies of scale for marine, rail, aviation and heavy-duty vehicles
- Industrial Transition:
- To achieve at least 15% of heating requirements using hydrogen as feedstock by 2030
- To achieve industrial transportation of 15% in petrochemical, pulp & paper, cement, iron smelters, agriculture, and gas imports infrastructure by 2030
By 2050, the Municipality would need to source 78% of its electricity from IPPs in order to reach its goal of using only renewable energy. The additional advantage of purchasing from IPPS, in addition to being cost-effective, is that the Municipality would still reap the rewards of renewable energy production without having to bear the full burden of upfront construction expenses or the management and maintenance of large-scale systems.
Access to the full IPP Program for energy sector transition is available here:
For more information contact: U.S. Commercial Service; U.S. Embassy-South Africa Email: Office.Johannesburg@trade.gov; Phone: +27 11 290 3192
Energy interests: Mlamli Mjambana at Mlamli.Mjambana@trade.gov