ALMOST 6.5 GW of wind capacity will be installed in South Africa between 2022 and 2026, according to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) report released yesterday.
The report titled, Capturing Green Recovery Opportunities from Wind Power in Developing Economies, focuses on five countries: Brazil, India, Mexico, the Philippines and South Africa. It was written in collaboration with BVG Associates.
The report said that this could easily be scaled up to almost 9 GW being installed between 2022 and 2026 – the green recovery scenario. Some 180,000 direct and indirect full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs will be created from wind energy in South Africa between 2022 and 2026 in the development, construction and installation phase, but not over the full lifetime of the projects – just the initial phase.
In addition, it said that 22,000 annual direct and indirect FTE jobs will be created in O&M, which continued for the lifetime of the wind farms.
According to the report, $10.5 billion (R159bn) direct and indirect gross value will be added to the economy from wind energy in South Africa between 2022 and 2026 in the green recovery scenario (over the lifetime of the wind farms).
A total of 750,000 FTE jobs will be created over the full lifetime of the wind farms. Some 27,900 GWh of electricity will be produced from these wind farms per year from 2026, and South Africa will save more than 50 million litres of water annually.
The report said that currently, South Africa contributed a 5 percent share to global GHG emissions and the country had an energy system heavily dependent on coal.
“The country also struggled to maintain a stable energy supply and experienced power cuts and frequent load-shedding. The wind energy could address these energy supply issues, as well as cutting emissions and adding significant stimulus to the economy,” reads the report.
“During the pandemic, wind energy projects under construction were impacted due to import delays and hard lockdown restrictions affecting movement for workers, especially the foreign technicians and specialists needed.”
South Africa ratified the Paris Agreement in 2016. In September last year, it launched updated versions of its nationally determined contributions and updated its reduction targets to match Presidential Climate Commission recommendations of 350-420 million metric tons of CO2 by 2030.
The country also has flagged an aspiration to become net zero by 2050, and for 22.5 percent of the energy mix to come from wind energy by 2030 (up from 5 percent in 2021). To reach these targets, the report said that a rapid expansion of renewable energy capacity will be required.
While this report includes only five country studies, similar socio-economic benefits can be achieved by other countries. The study analysed international experience of the onshore wind industry and found that typically a 1 GW/year installation rate over five years could unlock nearly 100,000 new jobs and $12.5bn gross value added (GVA) to national economies over wind farms’ lifetime, among other benefits.
A total of 130,000 jobs during the development, construction, and installation phase of the wind farms would be created, some 28.8 million litres of water would be saved annually from 2026, some 4.9 million homes could also be powered with clean energy per year from 2026, 12,000 local jobs annually during the 25-year operations and maintenance phase of the wind farms and 240 million metric tons of carbon emissions equivalent could be saved of carbon emissions over the lifetime of the wind farms.
The resulting 5 GW of wind energy would mitigates 240 million metric tons of CO2 emissions over the lifetime of the wind farms, which is the equivalent of 90 million return flights from New York to Glasgow, taking 53 million internal combustion engine cars off the road for one year. Planting and maintaining 6.4 million trees for 10 years.
GWEC chief executive Ben Backwell said two years into the Covid-19 pandemic, the window of opportunity to build back better for a more resilient and sustainable future was closing fast.
"As the world entered 2022, coal powered generation was on-track to reach a record peak this year, with natural gas prices at all-time highs and— as predicted — emissions rebounding alongside economic recovery."
“To date, the action needed to deploy renewable energy and mitigate climate change has failed to match the scale and pace of the climate crisis. Investments in new energy infrastructure have not been sufficient to allow the huge amounts of private sector investment available to be deployed at pace, and for economies like the five profiled in this report, this has slowed recovery from the pandemic and increased the risk of further recessions.”
The chief executive said he was however optimistic as during the last two years, governments earmarked unprecedented spending packages to safeguard jobs and economic activity, while there was a new found consensus around the role of the clean energy transition as a key enabler of sustainable growth in a post-pandemic world.
Backwell said the landmark agreement reached at COP26 in Glasgow last year, where the 197 parties to the Paris Agreement formally recognised the urgency to rapidly scale up clean power generation globally and phase out fossil fuels, made the pathway ahead clear.
“Governments must act in 2022, or miss the opportunities of the energy transition. Green recovery, including targeted public stimulus and investment as well as policy reforms which improve the enabling environment for a green economy, can go a long way in putting the world on track to meet international climate targets and increasing energy system resilience.”
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