South Africa’s Feed-in Tariff Regulations are in

South Africa’s energy regulator Nersa has approved renewable energy feed-in tariffs (Refits) that cover the cost of power generation and allows for a reasonable profit to induce developers to invest in renewable energy.

"The approved REFIT guidelines will create an enabling environment for achieving the government’s 10,000 GWh renewable energy target by 2013 and sustaining growth beyond the target," regulator member Thembani Bukula said in a statement.

South Africa will pay rand (R)1.25 for each kWh produced from wind, R0.94 for the same from hydro, R0.90 for electricity from landfill gas and R2.10 for power from concentrated solar.

In its December consultation paper, Nersa had proposed tariffs ranging from R60-R74 cents per kWh, but raised the levels after criticism that the figures suggested were too low for projects to be viable and to offer reasonable returns. Nersa said the tariff would only be applied to new projects and would be reviewed every year for five years and every three years thereafter.

The Refit decision was delayed from March 9 to March 31 because of growing feedback from interested groups.