INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN FOR ELECTRICITY 2010-2030

The Policy-Adjusted IRP 2010-2030 outlines South Africa's strategy for electricity generation expansion and demand-side management. It recommends a diversified energy mix including 9.6 GW of nuclear, 6.3 GW of new coal, and 17.8 GW of renewables (wind, solar PV, and CSP) to balance security of supply, economic growth, and carbon emission constraints. The plan emphasizes accelerating renewable energy to foster local industry and includes a Medium Term Risk Mitigation Project to address anticipated supply shortfalls between 2011 and 2016 through demand response and increased generation availability.

• The Policy-Adjusted IRP proposes a generation mix for 2010-2030 that includes 9.6 GW of nuclear, 6.3 GW of coal, 17.8 GW of renewables, and 8.9 GW of other generation sources, in addition to existing and committed power plants.
• The Department of Energy committed to a full nuclear fleet of 9600 MW to ensure dispatchable base-load capacity and provide security of supply against potential fuel price increases, such as a 'peak oil' scenario.
• To accelerate the development of a local industry, the installation of renewable energy technologies—specifically solar PV, concentrated solar power (CSP), and wind—has been brought forward in the timeline.
• The plan maintains a carbon dioxide emission constraint of 275 million tons per year after 2024, which was a key parameter of the preceding Revised Balanced Scenario (RBS).
• The IRP identifies several critical projects requiring immediate firm commitment to avoid supply risks, including the first 3.0 GW of the nuclear fleet, solar PV programmes for 2012-2015, and wind installations for 2014-2015.
• The Medium Term Risk Mitigation Project (MTRMP) addresses a projected energy supply shortfall of 9 TWh in 2012, proposing a 'safety net' that includes a mandatory Energy Conservation Scheme for the 500 largest electricity users.
• The plan incorporates technology learning rates, which assume that capital and operating costs for renewables will decrease as global installed capacity increases.
• The Department of Energy opted to maintain conservative Energy Efficiency Demand-Side Management (EEDSM) levels rather than increasing them, citing the risk to security of supply if higher targets were not met.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2011). INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN FOR ELECTRICITY 2010-2030. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Integrated-Resource-Plan-2010-2030.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN FOR ELECTRICITY 2010-2030. 2011. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Integrated-Resource-Plan-2010-2030.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN FOR ELECTRICITY 2010-2030 |date=6 May 2011 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Integrated-Resource-Plan-2010-2030.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centreforenvironmentalrights2011integrated, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN FOR ELECTRICITY 2010-2030}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2011}, month = may, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Integrated-Resource-Plan-2010-2030.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }