The challenge of energy efficiency falls low on the list of priorities for many developing countries. The pursuit of rapid economic growth and stability often eclipses considerations of the effective use of energy.

South Africa is starting to look at energy efficiency – but how far have they come along? I think my colleague Levin Nock put it well when he described South Africa as a “tiny developed country within a larger developing country.” On one hand, South Africa has several metropolitan cities, such as Johannesburg and Cape Town, and therefore has an energy-intensive building stock that requires a stable energy supply. On the other hand, the country as a whole suffers from a high poverty rate and low GDP per capita. In addition, the country has experienced rolling blackouts since 2007, and electricity generation capacity barely manages to meet the ever-growing demand. The South African government is looking at energy efficiency as one way to relieve the problem.

South Africa’s electricity supply comes almost entirely from a single utility, Eskom. The price of electricity is among the lowest in the world, though it is scheduled to increase annually in South Africa, prompting many energy users to examine ways to reduce energy consumption. Eskom offers subsidies for certain types of energy efficiency equipment in buildings, but funding for energy efficiency from Eskom has historically been spotty. The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) established a Demand-Side Management program that has provided some funding for retrofits and plans to launch an incentive scheme for reduced energy consumption (called the Standard Offer Incentive Scheme) in September.

The South African government is at the forefront of the energy efficiency charge in the country. In 2005, the Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) released the South Africa Energy Efficiency Strategy, which established national goals for energy reductions of 12% nationwide by 2015. And the government plans to retrofit over 100,000 public buildings throughout the country. In addition, the SANS 204 building energy code, which is voluntary today, is in the process of becoming mandatory (though the regulation may take several years to come into effect). On the city scale, Johannesburg is one of 17 cities participating in the Clinton Climate Initiative’s Climate Positive Development Program, which emphasizes energy efficient buildings in urban development.

At this point, however, many of these programs and regulations are in the up-and-coming stage. Not all of them will make it onto the books, and many of the ones that do may end up less ambitious or rigorous than originally hoped. In all, South Africa’s energy efficiency story is still developing, and the next five years will determine the success of these programs.