GAS POWER PROJECTS WILL BE A HOT TOPIC AT
- Old Mutual Limited’s African Infrastructure Investment Managers will consider funding companies that compete for the right to produce 3,000 megawatts of electricity from gas in an upcoming bid round planned by the government, said Vuo Ntoi, co-managing director of the $2-billion fund.
“We believe gas is an excellent transition fuel from coal-heavy generation to renewables,” Ntoi said in a recent interview. “Gas fulfills that role and will fulfill that role until storage in the form of batteries is competitive.”
Ntoi’s support for the fuel that is rarely used in South Africa is in line with the stance taken by South Africa’s biggest coal consumers, Eskom Holdings and Sasol. The companies plan to rely on gas to cut their greenhouse emissions while maintaining their output of electricity and motor fuels respectively.
This is in contrast to the stance taken by the country’s renewable-energy lobby groups, which argue that the country should take advantage of its abundant sun and wind and not invest in gas infrastructure that may be rendered obsolete in coming years.
The use of gas is still a necessary step, according to Ntoi, whose fund has invested about $619million (R9billion) in South African renewable energy plants. Gas is currently more dispatchable, meaning it can be used on demand, than renewable energy, which depends on the weather, he said.
Ntoi said he is encouraged by the “political will” that has seen South Africa announce plans this year for further renewable energy bid rounds as well as seeking additional power from coal, gas and battery storage.
The government should have taken advantage of the number of projects that competed in an emergency power provision round that awarded contracts to produce 1,845Mw by August next year, he said.
Projects that could have supplied an additional 4,000MW to 4,500MW were rejected, Ntoi said. Those could have been used to bring South Africa’s crippling power cuts to an end, he added.
Author: Nomvuyo Tena
This article was originally published on ESI Africa and is republished with permission with minor editorial changes.
