The Sustainable National Accessible Power Planning (SNAPP) tool is a sophisticated set of linked Excel spreadsheets, designed to make analysis of electricity plans more accessible to stakeholders. It enables users to interrogate government’s proposed Integrated Resource Plan, as well as the implications of assumptions and input data and resulting technology choices, without undertaking the complex modelling on which the plan is based.
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is a key feature of a sustainable economy.
Moving to renewable energy resources is necessary not only to fight climate change, but also to find a solution to ever-dwindling and increasingly expensive fossil fuels.
- For South Africa, solar power is particularly attractive given the rich abundance of sunlight in this country. Three types of solar power should be considered:
- Solar water heaters provide a cheap alternative to electric geysers which are the single largest consumer of electricity in homes.
- Concentrated Solar Power uses large-scale plants to collect sunlight, producing steam to generate electricity. With facilities to store heat, these plants can operate day and night.
- Photovoltaic panels turn sunlight directly into electricity, without the need for transmission lines. This represents a solution for getting modern energy to people who live beyond the reach of the electricity grid.
- World-wide wind power has seen strong investment. In the US, 42% of all energy investment in 2008 was in wind power. Other technologies turn ocean power, geothermal power or sustainable biomass from non-food sources into electricity or heat.
Solar thermal electric panels
50% by 2030: Renewable energy in a just transition to sustainable electricity supply
Sustainable National Accessible Power Planning
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