South Africa is one of the countries globally best endowed with solar resources; furthermore, the wind resources in the country are excellent. This, in combination with vast space availability, which is required for both solar and wind power generation, puts South Africa in an excellent position to drive a renewables-based energy system.

The country needs to determine what the global position of South Africa in the renewables value chain should be. The South African “renewables business model” needs to be determined.

SET problem

Resource assessment:
For all renewable sources, the quantification of the available resource in a high spatial and temporal resolution, based on historical data and forecasted into the long-term future is an essential foundation for the creation of a renewables-based energy system.

Resource forecasting (short term):
For solar and wind, because they have no inherent energy storage linked to them, forecasting of short-term supply of these two sources is essential for a reliable operation of the energy system.

Technology performance, testing and verification:
Renewables technologies’ performance under South African conditions needs to be understood, measured, tested and verified.

Technology system integration:
The design of solar, wind, biomass energy power generators and system and their integration into the local energy grid, which includes the performance of such power generators from a utility-interface perspective are relevant topics for a successful system integration.

Technology-specific research:
This research can either be focused on increasing the performance of certain technologies (improving technical efficiency and performance) or on the more cost-efficient production of the technologies (reducing costs and increasing quality).

Proposed solution

Resource assessment:
The Energy Centre will undertake solar and wind resource evaluations in-house and will guide the resource assessment of biomass, hydro, and others for energy production carried out by other CSIR units.

Resource forecasting (short term):
The CSIR Energy Centre will build capabilities in solar and wind forecasting (week-ahead, day-ahead, intra-day) to supply the South African and other, regional System Operators with aggregated forecasts for power production of the solar and wind fleet in the country/region.

Technology performance, testing and verification:
A solar PV outdoor testing facility is currently being scoped. What additional offerings in the testing space the CSIR Energy Centre will create is currently under discussion and will be finalised in the very near future.

Technology system integration:
Exact positioning in this space is currently being discussed and finalised.

Technology-specific research:
How much the CSIR will move backwards in the value chain of a specific renewable technology will be determined over the next few years, approaching each technology from the very end of the value chain (i.e. starting with testing and system integration of technologies).

In the solar PV space, the CSIR Energy Centre together with MSM could develop industry-scale testing manufacturing lines for solar PV modules that help South African solar PV module makers to improve their manufacturing processes

A similar approach can be envisaged for wind technologies

As for biogas, it can be envisaged for CSIR Biosciences to systematically test different feedstock compositions to improve the biogas yield from organic materials.