Policy Recommendations and Implementation Roadmap Report for Battery Storage Value Chain Development in South Africa

Overview & Synopsis

Climate change remains a critical global challenge, prompting economies worldwide to take decisive action. With its rich endowment of critical minerals, South Africa is well positioned to play a significant role in this evolving landscape. The country’s mineral wealth ranges from platinum group metals (PGM), essential to the automotive industry, to key minerals required for battery technologies. This study comprehensively evaluated South Africa’s market potential in the battery storage sector. It highlighted opportunities for industrial development, emphasizing economic growth, job creation, and the preservation of employment in the local automotive sector. This report lays the foundation for a policy implementation roadmap, outlining actionable steps for establishing the battery value chain in South Africa. It assesses the existing policy landscape and examines key initiatives that influence the sector, such as policies on battery raw material extraction and beneficiation, refining capabilities for battery minerals, local electric vehicle (EV) and EV component manufacturing, and the integration of grid scale battery systems with renewable energy. In doing so, it seeks to identify the policy measures most likely to strengthen South Africa’s role in the global battery supply chain and to foster the development of local manufacturing capacity.