PCC’s Olver sees updating IRP to exclude new coal as key policy priority

Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) executive director Dr Crispian Olver says updating South Africa’s energy policy to exclude any new coal capacity to 2030 and beyond, while increasing the allocation for renewable energy to at least 30 GW by the end of the decade should be key priorities for the coming 24 months. In a presentation delivered at the 2021 edition of Windaba, in Cape Town, Olver said that research had affirmed that a renewables-dominant electricity system would be the lowest-cost for South Africa, as well as the fact that the costs associated with increasing the country’s decarbonisation ambition were not as high as initially expected.