Barriers to powering past coal: Implications for a just energy transition in South Africa

The article proposes the Just Transition Feasibility Framework (JTFF) to evaluate how feasibility constraints may impact South Africa's energy transition ambitions, and commitments to energy justice. The developed JTFF is operationalised to the South African context through an exploratory, qualitative approach which synthesises findings from primary and secondary data.

Key Findings/Recommendations: At the local level, the study highlights one dimension of distributive and recognition injustice linked to the influx of foreign workers. This situation constrains the growth of South Africa's renewable energy labour force and sees local communities marginalised or excluded from just transition processes, which can give rise to social resistance against renewables. At both the national- and community level, the analysis highlights socio-political constraints related to the Renewable Independent Power Producer Programme (REI4P) which aggravate energy vulnerabilities and misrecognition of places. Recommendations are to strategically tackle a range of techno-economic and socio-technical constraints and to extend the 50 km radius scheme of the REI4P to a wider and more inclusive regional basis. Policy interventions must seek to realign South Africa's Minerals Energy Complex towards a just transition pathway committed to renewable electrification, community empowerment, and sustainable socio-economic structures

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