- South Africa’s Mineral Resources and Energy Minister, Mr Gwede Mantashe, said that the Africa must follow the Chinese example of ascertaining the reliability, resilience, and the efficiency of the new energy technologies before we can unbundle old technologies.
- He was speaking yesterday at Africa Oil Week conference taking place in Cape Town.
Mantashe took the opportunity to express his concern that climate change is rapidly being weaponised against the least developed. Instead of considering the realities facing each country, climate change standards are set by the developed nations and imposed on the developing nations.
“Foreign funded Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) are also being used to weaponise environmental preservation to block development in developing nations. This is a reality that we are faced with in South Africa, hence we demand that these NGOs be registered and be made to declare their source of funding as it is done with political parties,” said Mantashe.
We have further observed that, following Russia’s decision to stop the flow of natural gas, some developed nations have reverted back to fossil fuels, with some reopening their decommissioned coal generating power stations.
Mantashe also pointed to the minerals value chain opportunity in the energy transition. “There can be no green future without Africa’s minerals, hence, we have started a discussion on the creation of value in countries of origin to change Africa’s economic situation,” said Mantashe.
Link to Mantashe’s full speech HERE
Speaking on the sidelines, Mantashe said that the country’s Integrated Resources Plan (IRP) is expected to be tabled before Cabinet by the end of the month. With the 2019 IRP considered ‘outdated’ at the time of its release, the country is in desperate need of a new IRP as it faces up to 10 hours of blackouts daily because power generation cannot meet demand.
Once passed Cabinet the draft IRP it will then go to the executive for approval. Thereafter it will go through a public consultation process. Mantashe said that the IRP ‘should’ be finalised this year but judging from the controversial delays and hot contestation expected in passing the Electricity Regulation Act Amendment Bill, which like the IRP is central to the joint efforts of business and government to solve the electricity crisis, the IRP may not be adopted before next year’s election. If the IRP is not passed before the national elections, the process will then have to start from scratch.
The IRP outlines the new energy generation mix of technologies and associated capacities to be rolled out typically on a 10-year horizon.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
