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Post-apartheid electricity policy and the emergence of South Africa's renewable energy sector

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  • Lucy Baker

Abstract

This paper situates South Africa's new renewable energy sector within the context of the country's electricity system and in turn its unique political economy. I chart major developments in the country's energy policy and governance since the end of apartheid and show how electricity policy is determined by economic, political, and technological factors. I examine the contested negotiation of key policies, which have been fundamental to the introduction of a renewable energy sector.

Suggested Citation

  • Lucy Baker, 2016. "Post-apartheid electricity policy and the emergence of South Africa's renewable energy sector," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2016-15, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2016-15
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    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/wp2016-15.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. Essex, Stephen & de Groot, Jiska, 2019. "Understanding energy transitions: The changing versions of the modern infrastructure ideal and the ‘energy underclass’ in South Africa, 1860–2019," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).

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