L - ESSONS FROM S OUTH A FRICA ’ S

Second, the development of renewable energy, along with the introduction of IPPs, aims to reduce the cost of electricity in South Africa, in the short term, through generation capacity built at the cost and financial risk of IPPs, and in the medium to long term, through the development of increasingly competitive and cost-effective renewable energy-based alternatives to traditional fuels and techn. [...] POLICY SPACE AND POLITICAL SUPPO RT ARE A PREREQUISITE From the publication of the 2003 White Paper on the Renewable Energy Policy of the Republic of South Africa (DME, 2003), which set the objective of generating 10 000 gigawatt-hour of renewable energy by 2013 (approximately 4% of the energy mix), to the procurement of the first MW of generation capacity in 2011, a long and complex policy develo. [...] While ameliorations could be achieved on the coordination of all involved institutions, the success of the REIPP procurement programme lies in the inclusion of all stakeholders from government departments, to the regulator and the state-owned utility, to the private sector. [...] While the South African government carries the foreign exchange risk between the bid submission and the signature of the PPA and the Implementation Agreement (allowing IPPs to adjust their price offering for any evolution of the exchange rate in between the two dates), project developers are exposed from the signature to the date of financial close (around one month). [...] Ultimately, the success of the REIPP procurement programme has enabled significant changes in the electricity supply industry by facilitating the entry of IPPs into the generation market and the development of renewable energy in the country.