Only three to five gigawatts of gas-fired plants should be built and they should only be used at times of peak demand, it said.
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed the commission in 2020 to advise him on how the country’s power industry should be developed as it moves to reduce its reliance on coal. South Africa is the world’s 14th-biggest emitter of climate warming gases, a large proportion of which are generated from burning fossil fuels.
The commission warned against investment in coal and nuclear power plants because they aren’t “least cost.” Reliance on fossil fuels in the future could reduce the competitiveness of South African export industries as they could be penalised for the carbon-intensiveness of their products, it said.The IRP should also include detail on how the national grid will be strengthened and where, it said.
The commission recommended that the president order an independent study into how electricity is priced in the country.