Communities and the Private Renewable Energy Sector: Distributing Social Development Benefits in South Africa (COM-PRES)

COM-PRES is a four-and-a-half-year research project (2025–2029) that investigates how private renewable energy (RE) investments in South Africa contribute to equitable social development. Led by Dr. Marianne S. Ulriksen (University of Southern Denmark), and implemented in partnership with the Centre for Social Development in Africa (CSDA) at the University of Johannesburg and the University of Cape Town, the project responds to South Africa’s ambitious just energy transition agenda.

The country’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) mandates that private sector-led RE projects deliver tangible social development benefits—often through novel community ownership structures such as community trusts. Yet, it remains unclear whether and how these interventions align with local aspirations, strengthen social cohesion, or reinforce the social responsibilities expected of the state.

Rationale: Private-led social interventions in renewable energy projects hold the potential to address inequality and support social development. However, they may also risk reproducing exclusion or undermining trust if not meaningfully aligned with community needs. COM-PRES explores this tension by examining how social development benefits are negotiated, distributed, and experienced by affected communities. The project focuses on how communities engage with and participate in shaping these interventions, and how such efforts influence broader relationships with government and the private sector.

Objectives:

• Understand how community trusts and REIPPPP social development components are experienced by communities.
• Explore whether and how these mechanisms help address inequality in affected and surrounding communities.
• Develop theoretical insights into evolving social contracts between the state, private sector, and citizens in the context of energy transition.
• Strengthen community- and university-level research capacity through training, fieldwork, and collaboration.
• Generate practical recommendations for designing and managing RE investments to enhance socioeconomic outcomes and relations between stakeholders.

Methodology:

COM-PRES applies a multi-scalar, mixed-method approach across four interconnected work packages. These include:

1. National policy and stakeholder analysis;
2. Community-level surveys and preference mapping;
3. Municipal-level political economy studies of RE benefit distribution;
4. Participatory action research to co-design improved models for community engagement.

Case studies will be drawn from a range of South African communities where RE projects have been implemented or are underway. Research will be conducted collaboratively with community members, local stakeholders, and Independent Power Producers (IPPs). Insights from these sites will inform national-level dialogues and policy recommendations.

Expected Outcomes:

• In-depth case-based evidence on how REIPPPP social interventions unfold in practice.
• Greater understanding of how private-sector initiatives influence citizen perceptions of the state and the evolving nature of public-private-community partnerships.
• Capacity development through the training of PhD candidates, a master’s student, and local community researchers.
• A practical policy toolkit, guidelines for community engagement, and targeted recommendations for government, industry, and development partners.

Impact: COM-PRES contributes to several UN Sustainable Development Goals, including:

SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy

SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

SDG 13: Climate Action

SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

By fostering respectful and reciprocal Global North–South collaboration, COM-PRES exemplifies a model of mutual learning and honest, people-centred research, with the ultimate aim of advancing a just energy transition in South Africa that leaves no one behind.

The project is available at https://drp.dfcentre.com/project/communities-and-the-private-renewable-energy-sector-distributing-social-development-benefits-in-south-africa-com-pres/.