The Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) is a plan aimed at estimating South Africa's electricity demand. It takes into account how the demand of electricity will be met and the expense of such a demand. The plan refers to electricity generation and expansion programmes. In formulating the National Development Plan, the Department of Energy gazetted the Integrated Resource Plan 2010-2030 (IRP 2010) in March 2011; this forecasted the energy demand for the 20-year period. In October 2019, IRP 2019 was gazetted; this updates the energy forecast from 2019 to the year 2030.
Objectives
The IRP was indicated to be a living document that would be revised and updated regularly. An updated plan was released in 2019, after the first in IRP in 2011. The stated objectives of the IRP are:
Make electricity inexpensive
Reduce green house gas emissions
Reduce water usage
Electricity generation from different sources
History
As of IRP 2019, 6 422 MW have been procured by the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme, of which 3 876 MW are in use on the country's electrical grid. The following capacity has been commissioned as part of Eskom's build programme: 1 332 MW at Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme, 1 588 MW at Medupi, 800 MW at Kusile, and 100 MW at Sere Wind Farm. In total, 18 000 MW have been resourced as additional capacity.