WATCH: Is ending load-shedding in 24 months possible?

SA, the world’s 13th-biggest source of greenhouse gases, will need to spend $250bn (about R4-trillion) over the next three decades closing down its coal-fired power plants and replacing them with green energy, according to a recent consultation paper.

The Blended Finance task force and the Centre for Sustainability Transitions at Stellenbosch University said that in addition to closing down the country’s coal-fired plants and building wind and solar power plants, money will need to be spent compensating coal-dependent communities whose livelihoods are threatened by the change, and investing in grid capacity.

Most of the money will need to come from the private sector, according to the paper.

The estimate comes as SA, which relies on coal for more than 80% of its electricity, is in the process of negotiating $8.5bn in climate grants and concessional loans with some of the world’s richest nations. The potential deal, announced at 2021’s COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, envisages SA retiring some of its coal-fired power plants.

Michael Avery is joined by Mark Swilling, a professor at the Centre for Sustainability Transitions at Stellenbosch University; and Amar Bhattacharya, a senior fellow in the Center for Sustainable Development, housed in the Global Economy and Development programme at Brookings.