Analysis of Barriers and Strategies to the Integration of Renewable Energy in South Africa: A Hybrid Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Framework

Renewable energy sources are fast becoming the most cost-effective option for adding new power generation capacity globally. In South Africa (SA), the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy has steadily gained momentum over the years. However, this transition is beset by complex and multidimensional barriers. This research study analyses and prioritises renewable energy barriers and mitigation strategies in South Africa. The DEMATEL multi-criteria decision-making technique was employed to rank the barriers and assess their cause-and-effect relationships. The findings reveal the top three barrier categories as Agreement, Market, and Knowledge. The study further employed an integrated hybrid CRITIC-TOPSIS technique to prioritise the proposed mitigation strategies for each barrier in a defined category. The results indicate that strengthening local community engagement is the most suitable solution to the adoption of renewable energy in SA. A sensitivity analysis model was conducted to validate the robustness of the results. The findings validate the consistency of the methods, with the ranking of the barriers and mitigation strategies remaining stable under various scenarios. This study presents a context-specific causal analysis of barriers and an objective prioritisation of mitigation strategies in South Africa using an integrated hybrid DEMATEL and CRITIC–TOPSIS approach, providing policymakers and decision-makers with valuable insights to develop strategic plans and policies that address the identified barriers.