Calculating the energy potential of solar PV located on Northern Cape mining properties using R

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South-Africa, as a sovereign member of various international treaties and agreements, is bound to agreed-upon objectives set to limit the proliferation of global climate change. The ramifications of these objectives have the potential to be particularly severe in a country where the social-, political- and economic structures have been intertwined in what has become known as the minerals-energy complex. Electricity generation, as a significant representative of the energy sector, is a key sector targeted for change by policymakers. Rightly so, as coal-based electricity generation constitutes the vast majority of all generation types and this has earned the country a precariously high position as a greenhouse gas emitter compared to other countries with similar levels of gross domestic product output.The policy arena, past and present, is analyzed in conjunction with other research results obtained by combining the same policy and technical aspects, with the aim of revealing a growth path for the renewable, and iiispecifically solar photovoltaic, energy market. A Multi-criteria decision-making system is identified during the literature study as the most applied technique when used in conjunction with geospatial information systems. A customized version of such a system is applied to the relevant sourced datasets in order to quantify the solar potential on mining land which currently holds mineral rights within the borders of the Northern Cape province. In contrast with the literature study, these areas were pre-selected based on known technical and current policy requirements. The entire quantification process was completed with the use of R and publicly available data in order to promote repeatability and prove the use of R as a cost-effective alternative in geospatial analyses.The results of the quantitively performed analysis revealed that mining land in the Northern Cape province has enough solar photovoltaic potential to, at least, satisfy the entire country's electricity consumption on an annual basis. To be able to extract this potential, recommendations are made to stakeholders with future policy amendments in mind. Currently, the model of own-consumption is still the easiest to access in the current policy climate, given profitability can be proven. However, given the restrictions in terms of timeframe imposed on mines, using rehabilitated mining land as a long-term solution is proposed as another alternative, given the envisaged policy scope can be utilized as envisaged.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University