South African Renewable Energy Masterplan approved for implementation by Cabinet

The SAREM was drafted well ahead of the 2024 elections and has now been adopted by the multiparty Government of National Unity, with Electricity and Energy Deputy Minister Samantha Graham-Maré having been delegated political responsibility for its implementation.

“The masterplan focuses on solar and wind energy, lithium-ion battery and vanadium-based battery storage technologies and is designed to be a living document,” Cabinet spokesperson and Minister in The Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, announced.

Cabinet also directed that additional work be done on the masterplan to incentivise investors to fund renewable-energy supplier development, as well as to include the development of green-hydrogen fuel to meet the international obligation of 5% blended fuel in the aviation and maritime sectors by 2030.

Ahead of the approval, Graham-Maré said that, while it would be “wildly optimistic” to try and compete with China to produce solar panels, South Africa had the capability to manufacture many of the components used in solar farms, as well as in wind facilities.

She also views SAREM as key to positioning South Africa as a supplier of renewable-energy components in Africa, where renewables generation form a key part of a joint World Bank and African Development Bank initiative known as Mission 300 to provide energy access to 300-million people on the African continent by 2030.

“It is my opinion that the roll-out of SAREM means that South Africa is perfectly positioned to play an integral role in Mission 300 and that we can become a preferred provider of renewable-energy components on the continent. By Africans for Africans,” she said.

*This article first appeared in Creamer Media's Engineering News on 27 March 2025.