Browsing by Author "Wlokas, Holle Linnea"

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    Implementing community renewables: institutional work in South Africa's renewable energy procurement programme
    (2017) Wlokas, Holle Linnea; Rennkamp, Britta
    In 2014, for the first time in its history, South Africa fed the national electricity grid with electricity generated through utility-scale renewable energy projects. The Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) is the policy instrument driving this change. The process requires bidding private energy companies to commit resources in alleviation of local socio-economic needs. This thesis analyses the question how the institutions evolve in the implementation of community benefit requirements. The theoretical frameworks of institutional work and logics helps to analyse this new organizational field and interaction of various actors in government, industries and communities. An action research approach grounds this research empirically and aims to create the opportunity for actors to reflect on their actions and engagement in the community benefit implementation process. The research asks how are government, companies and communities shape institutions in the implementation of the community benefit requirements in South Africa's REIPPPP? The study first analyses the procurement requirements for community benefit and ownership, then, secondly, reviews the first 64 approved project bids for suggestions made in response to these requirements. A third research step involves fieldwork in 13 wind and solar projects across the country, the fieldwork consisting of interviews with project stakeholders about their experiences. The research negotiates access to an emerging and competitive, but also enquiring industry, one that has shared with the researcher important insights into its evolving community engagement and its development practices and considerations. The findings reveal that, in the implementation of South Africa's community renewables, government and companies dominate institutional work efforts in the stages of policy formulation and project development. But communities, the least informed and capacitated actor among the three, face the results and they have particular ways of responding, including corrective and disruptive ways. Reflective spaces are dominated by industry and strategically exclude communities from both asserting their experiences as well as from the opportunity to participate in creating collective understanding and agreeable processes that would foster the long-term relationship between company and community. This is a shortcoming that requires urgent attention to ensure positive institutional work and developmental impact.
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    Local employment through the low-pressure solar water heater roll-out in South Africa
    (Energy Research Centre, University of Cape Town., 2013) Wlokas, Holle Linnea; Ellis, Charlotte
    In February 2013, the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the post-2015 development agenda failed to identify climate change as a priority issue (United Nations 2013). The defined framing questions for the panel’s work and the most recent announcement highlight sustainable growth with equity, wealth through management of natural resources and partnerships - but not the detrimental impact of climate change on development (Field 2013). This shortcoming is a reflection of the current discourse. Even though changing, climate change and development are still located in two different camps. Although much work has gone into bridging this gap by potentially aligning policy agendas, the challenge to achieve integration of climate and development objectives is still obvious on the ground (Rennkamp 2012). Solar water heating in South Africa is one such on-ground example which, when investigated thoroughly, presents a learning opportunity.
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    Making communities count: Maximising local benefit potential in South Africa's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RE IPPPP)
    (International Institute for Environment and Development, 2013) Tait, Louise; Wlokas, Holle Linnea; Garside, Ben
    In South Africa, independent producers of renewable energy are invited to bid to take part in a large-scale, innovative, government-led scheme which aims to not only increase the share of renewable energy in the national grid, but also to benefit impoverished communities. The Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (RE IPPPP) requires independent power producers to contribute to various economic development criteria, including in the communities where their projects are located. However, the nature of these requirements, and the ‘newness’ of this model – being implemented at scale over a short period of time – has also presented private renewable energy businesses with the significant challenge of engaging with community development processes, an area typically outside their expertise. This report explores the experiences and challenges of the renewable energy sector to date, both in meeting the RE IPPPP requirements, and planning for their longer-term implementation. Find out more about our work on improving people's access to sustainable energy.
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    A review of the solar home system concession programme in South Africa
    (2010) Wlokas, Holle Linnea
    Since the introduction of the solar home system (SHS) concession programme in 1999, the involved companies and customers have had to adapt to many changes over the years. Government introduced for example the Free Basic Electricity policy in alongside the SHS subsidy and only irregularly awarded tenders for the actual installation of SHSs; companies have split and concession areas have been renegotiated. Despite these changing conditions, some companies have managed to stay in business and are still willing to install systems for new customers. The questions are: who managed to adapt to these changes, and what do the business models of the companies look like? Rural electrification remains a challenge for government and the private sector. High connection costs, low consumption rates and high poverty rates constrain the roll-out of electricity in rural areas. The SHS concession programme was introduced with the objective to "speed up universal access to electricity", and aimed to "attract larger, better organised private companies with their own sources of financing" in the hope that "the strong financial and maintenance control characteristic of the private sector should facilitate the channelling of international development funding". The programme was also meant to motivate the service providers to "adopt a delivery model that promotes a range of fuels such as gas or kerosene, in addition to SHS or mini-grid systems" (Kotze, 2000). Earlier research has been helpful in identifying shortcomings of the programme (for example Energy Research Centre, 2005 and Energy Research Centre, 2004) but, in order to advise policy makers, it is of particular interest to examine the survival strategies the SHS companies adopted.
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    South Africa’s renewable energy procurement: A new frontier?
    (2015-04-02) Baker, Lucy; Wlokas, Holle Linnea
    Despite a continuing electricity crisis from its coal-fired sources, in recent years South Africa has become one of the leading destinations for renewable energy investment. This is thanks to the launch of its renewable energy independent power producers’ programme for which an estimated $14 billion/R168 billion has been committed thus far and approximately 4 GW of utility-scale renewable energy capacity approved. The programme is unique in that it in order for projects to qualify, developers must commit to undertake requirements for community ownership and economic development benefits in a country with gross socio-economic inequality. As the industry facilitated by RE IPPPP continues to develop, however, concerns have arisen including: the extent to which financial returns will leave or benefit the country; that the ownership of the industry is rapidly becoming the domain of large international utilities; and emerging tensions between ‘bankability’ required by banks and investors and the economic benefits and community ownership criteria.
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    What contribution does the installation of solar water heaters make towards the alleviation of energy poverty in South Africa?
    (Energy Research Centre, University of Cape Town., 2011) Wlokas, Holle Linnea
    The South African government has publicized plans to install one million solar water heaters in households throughout South Africa by the year 2014, with the goals of reducing strain on existing electricity resources, mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, creating employment and alleviating poverty. This paper examines two existing solar water heater installation projects with the aim of investigating the social contribution of the installation of solar water heaters in low-income households in South Africa. The Sustainable Urban Livelihoods approach (SULA) was adjusted to provide an analytical framework for the development of suitable indicators of social change in the context of renewable energies and energy poverty. Increases in household capital and the reduction of household vulnerability to shocks, stressors and seasonal variability as the result of solar water heater installation were investigated in projects in low-income housing developments in the cities of Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Data collected from paired household surveys (before and after installation) in over 600 households and qualitative information (Most Significant Change stories) show that the provision of a constant, cheap source of heated water contributed positively to the alleviation of energy poverty. Household capitals (categorised as Human, Social, Financial, Physical, Natural and Gender capital), including aspects such as health benefits and time and financial savings, were all positively effected by the installation of solar water heaters. In addition, improved energy security greatly reduced household vulnerability to shocks, stressors and seasonal variability. Comparison between the two projects revealed that the geographical setting (climatic conditions in particular), and the approach and strategies adopted by the implementers of the solar water heater installation project, greatly determine the extent to which benefits to the households are realised.