South Africa’s renewable energy industry has been given a boost after the country’s regulator finally approved renewable energy tariffs to help boost investment in the sector.

The National Energy Regulator of SA (NERSA) approved the renewable energy feed-in tariff (REFIT) in a bid to help the government meet its target on alternative energy, according to a report on Reuters

The tariff sets out the price per unit of electricity to be paid for energy from renewable sources generated by private power producers.

"The approved REFIT guidelines will create an enabling environment for achieving the government's 10,000 GWh renewable energy target by 2013 and sustaining growth beyond the target," said Thembani Bukula, regulator member for electricity regulation.

REFIT covers the cost of power generation and also allows for a reasonable profit in order to encourage developers to make additional investment into renewable energy.

South Africa will pay R1.25 for each killowatt hour produced from wind, R0.94 for the same from hydro, R0.90 for electricity from landfill gas and R2.10 for power generated from concentrated solar.