WWF-SA's Living Planet unit head, Saliem Fakir says, "The difficulties arising at Medupi present a lesson for South Africa. Large bulk energy projects such as this one are, by their nature, complex and have historically demonstrated the tendency to extend beyond expected timelines and budget. While South Africa's Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) remains stuck in an old paradigm of bulkiness and capital intensity, greater effort should be made to reduce demand, avoid as far as possible the building of too many complex power stations and focus on more modular and rapidly deployable solutions such as renewables."
As WWF globally embarks on its 'Seize Your Power' campaign, WWF aims to re-emphasise the importance of renewables in the global energy future as a means of emissions reduction. Fakir explains, "In planning future energy supply we should not only concern ourselves with utility scale - building only for the central grid - but also allow more and more citizens to join the grid and generate power for themselves. We believe that the movement towards more autonomous power will grow in the next decade as technologies improve."
Fakir concludes, "As this shift in the energy sector grows there is a strong likelihood that further large-scale coal-fired power stations, like Medupi, will turn out to be unnecessary and expensive options in a world that is moving to more modular and distributed options."
For more information, go to www.wwf.org.za.
