Expansion of wind power technology in South Africa: Challenges and opportunities

Abstract

Energy consumption in South Africa (SA) has been increasing significantly in the last decade due to industrialization and growth of households countrywide. In the attempt of increasing power generation, the SA government has been adopting the policy of generating electricity from renewable energy sources and encouraging the emerging of independent power production (IPP) initiatives. However, despite all those efforts, the dream 100% of renewable energy technologies implementation in SA has been slowed down due to technical, socio-economic and environmental challenges. As it is known, all power generation technologies have strengths and weaknesses and renewable energy technologies are not exception. In SA, the integration of wind power in the power system is now an unavoidable issue in order to optimize the utilization of the resource and increase the rates of wind technology installation, which is necessary in order to achieve the goals of sustainability and security of supply [5]. In that context, this research on wind energy technology aims to assess wind power technology's main weakness, to discuss the role of society's distinct segments and disciplines on the wind technology improvement and implementation and to contribute to the achievement of 100% renewable energy technology in South Africa and worldwide.