In Depth: Can South Africa win the trust of developers?

Amid the frenzy of excitement and goodwill surrounding South Africa’s recently concluded renewables tender, developers and government officials acknowledge that many challenges still lie ahead — from grid problems to the lack of local skills.

But looming large are two potential problems with the ability to derail the entire 18GW programme — one spoken of openly, the other whispered behind closed doors.

The South African government is doing everything in its power to overcome the first — a lack of finance — by wooing foreign investors and multilateral financial institutions.

It cleverly leveraged the media spotlight at the COP17 climate talks in Durban to launch the South African Renewables Initiative (SARi), which it hopes will draw together a range of international partners and lenders willing to…

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