Mpumalanga offers unique opportunities for the development of renewable energy projects. However, renewable energy development with a focus on wind projects has to navigate through the land use challenges of mining, agriculture and environmental conservation. Although some of the challenges are found in other parts of the country, the scale and density of mining and important environmental conservation activities are unique to Mpumalanga. In both cases, information asymmetry is a challenge that project developers need to navigate.
This industry brief reflects directly on insights drawn from a workshop held in Mpumalanga with stakeholders from local, regional and national government, Eskom and the renewable energy industry. It reflects on the “lived experience” barriers that developers have to navigate during the process of landing large-scale renewable energy developments in the province. It also offers some short-term and longer term recommendations for overcoming these barriers.
This industry brief was developed by GreenCape, supported by Agora Energiewende.