Energy Services: Market Intelligence Report 2017

The South African energy services market is expanding due to rising electricity costs, decreasing technology prices, and supportive policies. Growth is primarily driven by the commercial and industrial sectors, particularly through rooftop solar PV and energy efficiency retrofits. While national regulations have lagged behind the rapid uptake of small-scale embedded generation (SSEG), local municipalities, especially in the Western Cape, are developing their own guidelines to unlock investment. Significant opportunities exist in public building retrofits, the water-energy nexus in municipal wastewater treatment, and industrial solar thermal applications in the food and beverage sector.

• The South African energy services market is driven by a combination of rising electricity prices, decreasing technology costs, and supportive policies, leading to a shift from centralized energy generation to a more localized and distributed approach.
• Embedded generation, specifically rooftop solar PV, significantly increases the value of commercial buildings, with potential value increases of up to 30% over the installation cost.
• The rooftop solar PV market in South Africa is estimated to have a value of R2 billion between 2016 and 2019, with the potential to create 3,000 medium- and low-skilled jobs.
• National regulations for small-scale embedded generation (SSEG) are largely inadequate, leaving local municipalities and provincial governments to develop their own policies. In the Western Cape, many municipalities have already introduced rules to allow SSEG.
• There is a substantial opportunity for energy efficiency in the public sector, with nearly 100,000 public buildings requiring retrofitting to meet a 15% energy savings target.
• Municipal wastewater treatment works (WWTW) represent a major energy opportunity; in Cape Town, these facilities use approximately 28% of the city's total electricity, and nationwide, 968 municipal treatment works could potentially generate up to 780 MW of power.
• The food and beverage sector is a primary target for solar thermal technologies because 79% of the energy used in this sector is for heat, with a potential market opportunity of up to R3.9 billion.
• Energy storage is considered vital for a low-carbon energy future, and while the industry is nascent, there is growing interest and local technology development by companies such as FreedomWon, BattCo, Bushveld Energy, First National Battery, and Tesla.
• The National Treasury has established local content thresholds for publicly procured solar PV systems to encourage local manufacturing, with requirements ranging from 15% for laminated modules to 90% for mounting structures.
• The National Energy Efficiency Strategy (NEES) 2005 target of 12% primary energy consumption reduction by 2015 was exceeded, with an economy-wide performance of 23.7% energy savings achieved.

APA

GreenCape (2017). Energy Services: Market Intelligence Report 2017. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/GreenCape-Energy-Services-MIR-2017-electronic-FINAL-v1-3.pdf

Chicago

GreenCape. Energy Services: Market Intelligence Report 2017. 2017. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/GreenCape-Energy-Services-MIR-2017-electronic-FINAL-v1-3.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=GreenCape |title=Energy Services: Market Intelligence Report 2017 |date=2017 |url=https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/GreenCape-Energy-Services-MIR-2017-electronic-FINAL-v1-3.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greencape2017energy, author = {{GreenCape}}, title = {{Energy Services: Market Intelligence Report 2017}}, institution = {GreenCape}, year = {2017}, url = {https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/GreenCape-Energy-Services-MIR-2017-electronic-FINAL-v1-3.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }