- South Africa’s 2023 Grid Emission Factor Report details South Africa’s grid emission factors based on 2023 Calendar Year (CY) data.
- A grid emission factor (GEF) reflects the GHG emissions associated with units of electricity in the grid electricity system.
- The 2023 Domestic Generation Grid Emission Factor of 0.94 tCO2e/MWh is marginally lower than the 2022 DGGEF of 0.96 tCO2e/MWh.
- Overall emissions have fallen from 1.013tCO2e/MWh in 2021 to 0.942tCO2e/MWh in 2023, but still remain very high.
- South Africa produces around 80% of its energy from a mainly ageing fleet of coal fired power stations.
- The report is a key tool for tracking progress and informing South Africa’s nationally determined contributions (NDCs) as the country works towards a low-carbon electricity system and its Paris Agreement goal of net zero by 2050.
Different spheres of government can use GEFs to monitor and analyse electricity emission trends, guide climate change modelling and inform climate change mitigation policies.
At the private sector level, electricity consumers can use the GEF to determine the emissions attributed to their activities. Accurate and up to date GEFs will assist with the increasing carbon pricing (e.g., carbon tax), investor pressure and consumer expectations around climate change mitigation. Carbon pricing may not just apply domestically, but also at borders e.g., on exports to the EU. Additionally, the GEF is also a key component of carbon accounting and emission inventories.
Four location-based GEFs were developed for South Africa, namely a Domestic Generation Grid Emission Factor (DGGEF), a National Generation Grid Emission Factor (NGGEF), a Transmission Losses Grid Emission Factor (TLGEF) and a Distribution Losses Grid Emission Factor (DLGEF). These GEFs were developed for South Africa based on 2022 calendar year data.
The 2023 DGGEF of 0.94 tCO2e/MWh, is marginally lower than the 2022 DGGEF of 0.96 tCO2e/MWh. This is due to a 4 % decrease in energy generated from emissive sources 2023 compared to 2022.
South Africa imported 7 829 952 MWh in 2023 from various sources, and the bulk of this electricity (99.5%) was produced from renewable energy, mainly from hydropower plants (Cahora Bassa – Mozambique). The addition of this electricity to the grid is reflected in the NGGEF that is lower than the DGGEF.
Link to the full report HERE
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
