Pace of just energy transition must consider the country’s electricity needs: Mantashe

Speakers at the Black Business Council Summit in Kempton Park have emphasised the importance of maintaining Eskom’s coal-fired plants in the short term in parallel to pursuing clean energy sources in the medium-to-long term future. Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe says the country must balance its decarbonisation aspirations with addressing energy poverty in the country.

He says the Integrated Resource Plan, which outlines the country’s future energy plan, advocates for a mix of energy sources that includes renewables, coal, gas, nuclear, solar, wind and battery storage.

Mantashe says the just energy transition should be approached at a pace and scale that considers the country’s energy needs.  He says all the investment that government is making into a diverse mix of energy sources will ensure that load shedding is eliminated before national elections next year.

“Today South Africa’s power system consists of generators, 38 GW of power is from coal, 1,8 is from nuclear, we have one power station, Koeberg, very efficient very reliable. It gives us low-cost electricity at 40-cents a unit today, 2,7 GW pump storage, 1,7 GW from hydro, 3,8 GW from diesel, very costly, and 6 GW from renewable energy.”

Skills development 

A commissioner with the Presidential Climate Commission, Shamini Harrington says in keeping with the requirements of a Just Energy Transition there is a localisation element of up to 40% recommended by the commission in the procurement of renewable energy.  Harrington says equipping people with the right skill to function in a decarbonised economy should be a priority.

“What we are sitting with is a lot of qualified people that have not gotten work experience. So, I can speak in my understanding on what we are doing in the just transition, from the company I’m in.  We are specifically redirecting our bursary schemes.  We are looking at TVET colleges differently; we are commuting to bring people in, through the workforce to train them up.  We run engineering training programmes, science training programmes alighted to the areas where we think.”

Climate change

Chairperson and CEO of Seriti Resources, Mike Teke says there is a future for coal in the foreseeable future, however businesses should also start investing in clean energy sources to mitigate against the real and devastating impact of climate change.

“The reality of the matter is that we’re wasting time debating things we shouldn’t be debating.  We must invest in those things while we progress in ensuring that we run those coal fired plants because we have a country that is facing huge unemployment challenges, community challenges, social development is needed and it’s a nation that’s still growing that still needs to progress.”

Teke says the future in terms of energy is a proper mix with a strong base load: 

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