Renewables and gas take on king coal in Africa
South Africa wants to go greener, but abandoning coal will be a tough task
South Africa revived its renewable energy programme in April with the signing of agreements that paved the way for the construction of 27 renewable energy independent power producer (IPP) projects. It's a move that could trigger the erosion of coal's pre-eminent position in the country's energy mix. Energy Minister Jeff Radebe declared that the agreements marked the "dawn of a new era" for renewables, following years of delays and uncertainty over private sector investment in the energy sector. These 27 projects are expected to add 2.3 gigawatts of capacity to the South African grid over the next two or three years and are aimed at a wider Renewable Energy IPP (REIPP) programme that could ex
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