Navigating the South African Energy Crisis: Balancing Green Goals with a Secure Energy Supply

South Africa’s energy crisis has been met with a commitment to reduce emissions and transition to a greener economy. However, this plan must include stable electricity supply. That’s according to Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, who answered questions in Parliament’s National Council of Provinces on Tuesday afternoon. Ramokgopa reassured members that his proposed delay of the decommissioning of some coal-fired power plants would not result in a deviation from the country’s climate commitments.

Ramokgopa pointed out that the country has committed to limiting annual carbon emissions to between 350 and 420 megatonnes by 2030, with a net-zero economy by 2050. Achieving this requires careful planning: “You can’t transition in the dark. The lights must be on. The economy must be sustainable as we decarbonise,” said Ramokgopa.

However, renewable energy projects are not quick to implement. It takes about 18 months for new projects to reach financing, and at most 24 months for them to be built, according to the minister. The current plan is to decommission 5 200MW of coal-fired units between 2023 and 2027, equivalent to more than eight stages of load shedding, while adding new renewable capacity to the grid.

Ramokgopa said that the speed at which some coal-fired power stations were decommissioned could be faster than the new generation capacity added to the grid. This would cause an even more significant crisis situation for the country, particularly considering the high stages of load shedding that have already impacted the economy.

The critical point was that the country could not afford to remove those megawatts and that a procurement round launched tomorrow would eventually see electrons feed into the grid by 2029. The country will be losing 420MW this year due to the closure of three units at Camden.

However, Ramokgopa’s position has been explained to banks and international members of the Just Energy Transition Partnership, and there is a great level of “appreciation” for what South Africa is doing. Achieving South Africa’s goals requires a great deal of modelling to be carried out to understand the ramifications of the emissions and climate commitments and the costs.

Ramokgopa said that the ministerial team would move forward cautiously, taking into account the interests of the economy and the people of South Africa. Importantly, the minister reiterated that South Africa’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions and transitioning to a greener economy remained unchanged.

Key Takeaways:

• South Africa’s energy crisis requires a stable supply to transition to a low-carbon economy.
• Delays in decommissioning coal-fired power stations may be necessary to maintain supply, while adding new renewables.
• The speed of change must be carefully considered to maintain South Africa’s energy sovereignty and interests of its population.
• South Africa is still dedicated to reducing carbon emissions and transitioning to a greener economy.