Abstract
South Africa continues to face an electricity crisis as the demand for electricity exceeds the available supply and the reserve margins are in decline. Energy efficiency demand management programmes are key drivers in reducing strain on the national electricity grid. In an attempt to address the national electricity crisis, the South African government has introduced the Municipal Energy Efficiency and Demand Side Management Programme grant in 2009 which is provided to selected municipalities with the aim to retrofit technologies within municipal buildings and infrastructure that will promote energy efficiency and reduce demand. This study aimed to assess the programme over five municipal financial years (2014/2015 to 2018/2019) in order to determine the efficacy of its existence. To achieve this, a mixed method approach was applied to achieve the objectives of this study. Secondary data was used in this study and further consolidated to determine the energy savings achieved, the expenditure of the grant and challenges that exist within the programme. The study found that the programme managed to achieve an adequate amount of energy over the five-year period and 75% of the allocated grant was spent on the programme. Regardless of this, a significant number of challenges are found to be experienced by the municipalities participating in the programme which include challenges related to, Supply Chain Management; Appointed Service Providers; Municipal Infrastructure; Capacity Building/Awareness Raising; the Department of Energy; Data Related; Internal Municipal Challenges and Job Creation. Based on the findings, the study provided recommendations to improve the implementation of the programme.
M.Phil. (Energy Studies)