The effect of mismatched supply and demand of electricity on economic growth in South Africa

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Authors

Mabugu, Tichinashe
Inglesi-Lotz, Roula

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Taylor and Francis

Abstract

Since 2008, the South African economy has experienced several power cuts (unplanned or as part of a load-shedding schedule), presumably because of the inability of the electricity supply to cover the demand. This paper examines the impact of such a demand-supply mismatch on the country’s economic growth within a production function framework. To do so, we use an Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model (ARDL) for the period 1985 to 2019. The paper finds that a positive mismatch (or surplus) of electricity (supply>demand) boosts economic growth in the long run. This finding provides evidence that supports the necessity of electricity supply expansion and the promotion of energy efficiency measures that both will create a mismatch (surplus) conducive to economic growth.

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Keywords

Electricity, Energy, South Africa (SA), Mismatch

Sustainable Development Goals

Citation

Tichinashe Mabugu & Roula Inglesi-Lotz (2022): The effect of mismatched supply and demand of electricity on economic growth in South Africa, Energy Sources, Part B: Economics, Planning, and Policy, 17:1, 2038731, DOI: 10.1080/15567249.2022.2038731.