Publications
Partners
Cape Town - The chief economic counsellor of the US Embassy in SA, Laird Treiber, says due to the South African government's policies, the country has been a really good laboratory for making renewable energy development commercially and economically successful. He said that is one of the reasons the US is so excited about being involved in renewable energy projects in SA.
NOW WATCH: Solar power keeps lights on in SA - CEO
NOW WATCH: Localisation retains renewable capital in SA
SA proves solar works without a lot of subsidies
There have been four rounds of commercial bidding for independent power producers (IPPs) in SA since 2011.
"SA is one of four or five countries that has shown under its renewable energy IPP programme just how successful this approach can be," said Treiber.
"It has been really interesting to see the prices come down from the initial rounds where companies were not completely sure how it will play out. Now they are at 30% to 40% of what the original price offerings were."
According to Treiber, the SA government's successful IPP programme proves to the world these types of projects - particularly solar and wind - can be commercially carried out in a variety of countries without a lot of subsidies.
