- The South African government has received additional pledges from Denmark and Netherlands totalling nearly US$3.5-billion in support of their Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET IP).
- This increases the funding pledges to US$11.9-billion after pledges made in 2021 from the ‘International Partners Group’ (IPG) made up of the EU, UK, France, Germany and the US who have committed US$8.5-billion.
- The JET IP implementation plan is expected to be approved by cabinet before COP28 which kicks off in Dubai on 30th November but not before it is hotly contested by stakeholders in the political arena which includes the country’s energy minister who wants jobs in the coal industry preserved. Read more
Rudi Dicks, head of the Presidency’s project management office, made the announcement at the 11th quarterly meeting of South Africa’s Presidential Climate Commission held last week on Friday.
Dicks explained that Denmark has committed $165-million, $23.2-million in the form of grants, while the Netherlands has pledged an indicative $1-billion for a Green Hydrogen Fund and $169-million in grant finance.
South Africa has developed and handed over a Just Energy Transition Investment Plan to the IPG listing three priority sectors namely; electricity, electric vehicles and green hydrogen. Read more
Dicks said that the government was also in discussions with several other countries and donors on possible JET IP funding which included Spain. Read more
The JET IP implementation plan is expected to be approved by cabinet before COP28 which kicks off in Dubai on 30th November but not before it is hotly contested by stakeholders in the political arena which includes the country’s energy minister who wants jobs in the coal industry preserved. Read more
Related news: do not underestimate the hard work and innovation required to fund South Africa’s JET plan at scale
One of the country’s powerful labour union, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), has called for the suspension of the US$8.5 billion IPG packed citing a lack of proper consultation. NUM, which represents the most workers of any union at Eskom, wants further consultations on the transition plan because of the threat it poses to as many as 51 000 jobs, it said in a statement yesterday. The union is also unhappy with the plan to unbundle Eskom into three separate divisions namely; generation, transmission and distribution.
“The energy transition which is taking place must be put on hold until such time that we are all convinced that the transition process will be fair,” said NUM.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
