South Africa: First brains trust boost to small IPPs

Amid the (literal) gloom, South Africa’s one widely acknowledged energy success of recent years has been its renewable energy independent power producer procurement (REIPPP) programme, which was driven by the National Treasury and its dynamic private sector specialist Karen Breytenbach, who now heads the Department of Energy’s IPP Office. REIPPP made Breytenbach an industry star, so it was of little surprise that she presided over the 8-11 June Africa Energy Forum’s most packed meeting, launching the Facilitating Investment in Renewable Small Transactions (First) programme.