Abstract
Now more than ever, renewable energy
technologies have become a key player in improving accessibility
to energy on the African continent. Focusing on the developing
nation of South Africa, published works have indicated
approximately thirteen criteria for selecting renewable energy
technologies. Consideration was given to developed criteria and
how they were used from technical, economic, social,
environmental and political stances. The aid of analytical
hierarchy process (AHP) and an established decision-model the
author endeavored to substantiate a method of selecting
appropriate technologies. These technologies were ranked in
order of priority using South African energy projects. Case
study information for onshore wind, solar photo-voltaic,
concentrated solar thermal, biomass and small hydro energy
alternatives were used to apply the decision-model for their
ranking and prioritizing. The overall outcome of the decisionmodel
identified that solar energy is the most suitable for South
Africa and should be developed for long-term policy and energy
roadmaps.