{"id":830872,"date":"2025-07-09T10:22:38","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T08:22:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=830872"},"modified":"2025-07-09T12:29:51","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T10:29:51","slug":"major-international-companies-put-south-africa-on-a-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/energy\/830872\/major-international-companies-put-south-africa-on-a-deadline\/","title":{"rendered":"Major international companies send urgent message to South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A global initiative that includes over 100 companies with operations in South Africa says the government needs to urgently implement policy reforms to adopt renewable energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The RE100 is the global corporate renewable energy initiative bringing together hundreds of large businesses committed to using 100% renewable electricity by 2050.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its members include Apple, Deloitte, KIA, Microsoft, Meta, Nike, PwC, Samsung, Starbucks and the South African-headquartered Investec.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The RE100 and the National Business Initiative (NBI) said that urgent policy implementation is needed to unlock South Africa’s renewable potential, meet corporate demand, and tap into corporate renewables investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over 100 member companies with operations in South Africa have set a target to use 100% renewable energy by 2050\u2014a deadline which is approaching quickly.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It noted that the rapid ramp-up of renewable energy is crucial for energy security, economic growth and competitiveness, and achieving the nation’s climate goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group has called on the South African government to speed up electricity market reforms and set clear renewable energy goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also called on the government to enable direct corporate procurement through wheeling, improve the grid, and improve approval processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The companies want the government to offer more green energy options for businesses of all sizes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RE100 said that these measures are critical to increase corporate investment in the country and drive the energy transition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It added that the sector is ready to help make the switch so that the companies involved can also meet their own renewables goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About 80% of South Africa’s electricity comes from coal, with the private sector being the largest consumer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, recent polls show that 95% of South African business leaders support transitioning from fossil fuels. 80% would prefer government investment in renewables over fossil fuel infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What South Africa needs to do <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
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The RE100 recomendations are a product of extensive consultation with businesses, energy technical experts, industry bodies, cities, provinces, and key national policymakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSouth Africa has an enormous opportunity to lead on renewable electricity in Africa, which could become an engine for job growth and economic prosperity,” said Ollie Wilson, Head of RE100.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Corporate demand for renewables has never been stronger, and they\u2019re ready to invest in countries keen to partner with them on that journey.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wilson noted that the benefits of renewables are manifold, ranging from energy security to international competitiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa has progressed via the Energy Action Plan, the Electricity Regulation Amendment Act, and the South African Renewable Energy Masterplan (SAREM).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, fully implementing the plans and reforms is essential for companies to meet their net-zero goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSouth Africa\u2019s energy transition is not only a climate imperative, it\u2019s an economic one,” said Shameela Soobramoney, CEO of the National Business Initiative (NBI).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“These reforms will boost investor confidence, strengthen our grid and energy security and unlock a wave of private sector-led innovation and green job creation.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The RE100 and NBI policy aims to create a fair, transparent, competitive electricity market that supports a just energy transition. The five topline policies are as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Accelerate electricity market reform to enable competitive renewables procurement.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Strengthen integrated planning and renewable energy-based electricity targets to guide investment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Enable and scale direct corporate procurement through wheeling and standardised Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Fast-track the roll-out of transmission infrastructure and grid connections and streamline project approvals.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Expand voluntary green power options.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    The group noted that public-private partnerships are critical to driving positive policy change and would increase access to affordable, reliable, renewable electricity for all consumers in the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Global initiative RE100 says South Africa needs to urgently ramp up it energy reforms, with its members looking to go 100% renewable by 2050. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":799364,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9874],"tags":[51,1498,16370,169,23067,7435,2407,23066,52,23068,1818],"class_list":["post-830872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy","tag-apple","tag-investec","tag-meta","tag-microsoft","tag-nbi","tag-nike","tag-pwc","tag-re100","tag-samsung","tag-sarem","tag-starbucks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=830872"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830872\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":830960,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/830872\/revisions\/830960"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/799364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=830872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=830872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=830872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}