Several critical policy and regulatory decisions are required by the end of the first quarter of 2020 at the latest if South Africa has any hope of closing what the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is now forecasting will be a growing gap between electricity supply and demand over the coming three years. In the absence of such decisions, South Africa faces the prospect of a period of sustained and rising load-shedding at levels well beyond the 1 353 GWh, or 530 hours, of rotational cuts implemented in 2019.
