South Africas current grid emission factor GEF methodology is becoming outdated amid rapid restructuring of the electricity market, experts warned during an EE Business Intelligence webinar on October 29. The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment confirmed that a review process is underway to modernise the framework.
The GEF measures the carbon intensity of grid-supplied electricity and underpins corporate emissions reporting and national climate policy. Chief Director of Climate Change Mitigation for the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Jongi Witi , said the departments 2021 methodology did not anticipated the unbundling of Eskom, the rise of independent power producers IPPs and the separate trading of renewable energy certificates RECs.
Without a revised framework, South Africa risks inaccurate emissions reporting, regulatory gaps and potential reputational damage in our carbon markets, Witi said.