Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Energy Policy journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol The potential and reality of the solar water heater programme in South African townships: Lessons from the City of Tshwane Claire Curry a , Judith A. Cherni b, ⁎ , Maxwell Mapako c a Bloomberg New Energy Finance, New York, USA b Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London, 14 Prince's Garden, London SW71AN, UK c Enterprise Creation for Development Unit, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, South Africa ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Solar water heaters Urban poverty South Africa Tshwane Eskom Electricity ABSTRACT The South African solar water heater (SWH) programme is part of national policy to improve the country's electricity security, an innovative strategy to provide indigent households with free solar water heaters. The study assesses the effects of the government programme for poor townships on reduction of household electricity consumption, decline in energy poverty, and reduction in CO2 emissions; and estimates the impact of SWH on reducing electricity demand nationwide. It reports results from fieldwork carried out in the City of Tshwane to measure both quantitatively and qualitatively the success of the project's deployment in townships. Although households register average savings of 27% on their monthly electricity bills and off-peak electricity demand has reduced significantly in the area, a variety of problems prevented the project from attaining the desired level of impact. Difficulties encountered include technical faults with the heaters combined with nonavailability of maintenance; a rise in water consumption; lack of community engagement leading to apathy; and dearth of owner training leading to underuse. The gap between inflated estimates and real savings is discussed. Expanding the programme could generate jobs but significant challenges remain. 1. Introduction South Africa has a strong industrial base heavily reliant on electricity with over half the population living in urban areas. Yet, the country also suffers from extreme wealth inequality and a large proportion of the population (45%) is in poverty (Statistics SA, 2014). South Africa has an HDI index of 0.658, making it 118th in the world – on a par with other mid-developed countries (UNDP, 2013). Life expectancy, at 62 years old is a consequence of the HIV/AIDS epidemic that affects 5.5 million South-Africans (World Bank, 2015a). The official unemployment rate is 25% (World Bank, 2015b). However, if those able to work but not seeking employment are included, the figure rises to 40% (Bhorat, 2007). The unemployment rate among 15–24 year olds is very high, at 51%, the majority of whom are poor black South Africans (Jones, Personal Communication 1 February 2011). Since 1994, 1.6 million homes have been built to house low-income families as part of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) (World Bank, 2011). Almost one-fifth of South Africans live in government-subsidized dwellings (Statistics South Africa, 2011). In 2011, the legislation set a R3,000/household/month income level, below which a family is considered “indigent” and may apply for government grants (Tumagole, Personal Communication, June, 2011). A household in- come of below R 1600/month was defined as the “poverty line” (making 57% of South African households officially poor in 2011; Central Intelligence Agency, 2011; Sustainable Energy Africa, 2006; Statistics South Africa, 2001). These problems have led South Africa to need not only a reliable electricity infrastructure for its industries and businesses, but also cheap electricity to cater for the large numbers of poor. Currently South Africa relies on coal for its electricity, with a very small capacity margin now in real danger of becoming insufficient to supply electricity to the whole country. This reliance on fossil fuels has resulted in South Africa contributing 39% of Africa's CO 2 emissions, while having less than 5% of the continent's population (US Energy Information Administration, 2012). In an endeavour to address these problems, the electricity regulator increased electricity prices to raise funds to build more power stations - plunging yet more people into energy poverty. In order to stave off energy poverty, reduce CO 2 emissions, and lower peak electricity consumption, the South African government has embarked on a programme to provide indigent households with free solar water heaters as part of a larger national strategy significantly to http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2017.03.028 Received 2 June 2016; Received in revised form 30 January 2017; Accepted 10 March 2017 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: j.cherni@imperial.ac.uk (J.A. Cherni). Energy Policy 106 (2017) 75–84 0301-4215/ © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. MARK