Establishing Internationally Competitive Wind Turbine Component Production in South Africa: A Feasibility Study

Abstract

This paper aims to assess the possibility of South Africa establishing internationally competitive local production of key components to the global wind power industry. This is done by applying theory on industrial policy, global value chains and the international competitiveness of national industries. The findings indicate that it is unlikely that South Africa will become internationally competitive within key wind turbine component supply. As such, the paper puts into perspective the difficulties of developing countries in establishing themselves within mature and technology-intensive global industries.