Is renewable energy an economically viable option? First of all, the first thing I'm going to do is define renewable energy. “Renewable energy is generally defined as energy from resources that are naturally replenished on a human time scale, such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves and geothermal heat¹. So, according to this definition of renewable energy, I would classify solar energy, wind energy, geothermal energy, bioenergy, green energy, ocean energy, hydrogen and fuel cell, energy hydroelectric, all of these types of energy are all renewable but are relatively expensive compared to our main source of electricity, fossil fuels which account for over 77% of the energy needed in South Africa. The reason renewable energy is so expensive is the capital required to start producing energy as well as the length of time for which, e.g. a hydroelectric power station must be built. Due to these facts, South Africa has not taken the necessary steps to fully implement renewable energy into our society, which we have only pocketed using cheap fossil fuels to maximize our profits. . - For these reasons, I would say that renewable energies are not an economically viable option at present. I say this for two reasons: firstly, the cost of capital needed to start a renewable energy power plant and the supplier will only seek profit in the future, which is not what big companies want to do , they are impatient and will immediately want profit to cover their capital as well as our fossil fuels, the means of more than 77% of our electricity production, this transition from 77% will be extremely expensive and very unrealistic. What would be a viable option is to integrate renewable energies into our electricity production. and slowly but surely reduce the percentage of our fossil fuels. The second remedy...... middle of paper ...... renewable energy and that's why energy suppliers cost more than average suppliers and that's why people go for the much version cheaper which is coal or fossil fuel and not the much cleaner version, renewable energy although there is a type of energy that does not cost much, wind energy at 1.25 ZAR/kWh per compared to solar energy at 2.10 ZAR/kWh. it's really cheap to make and that's why South Africa is currently heading in that direction, but it's still a long way from the R0.31 per kWh that Eskom is offering from coal and nuclear power . Despite all this, South Africa is one of the perfect places due to its climate that can provide the ideal conditions for renewable energy like wind, solar and hydroelectric power and that is why we should take advantage of it , but unfortunately we don't and less than ten percent of our energy comes from renewable energy₃.