Mineral resources and energy minister Gwede Mantashe has hit back at criticism that he should be fired over his inaction in solving SA’s energy crisis.
“Those who are shouting at us that we must do things haphazardly actually wanting to cause chaos in the economy and the society. We must resist that,” Mantashe said in his opening remarks at the launch of the International Energy Agency’s coal 2019 report on Tuesday.
“We are on the right track. We are not creating a crisis, we are preventing a crisis,” he said.
The minister’s comments follow a call from the SA Independent Power Producers Association, as published in the Business Times, that he should be fired for “doing nothing” to speedily alleviate the country’s electricity crisis in spite of available options. Such options include opening the fifth round of procurement for the government renewable power programme and clearing regulatory hurdles that prevent businesses from generating more of their own power.
Renewed calls for urgent intervention follow another bout of load-shedding when, last week, rotational power cuts reached stage six – the most severe level yet as power generation fell way short of consumer demand.
While many nations are discussing how to get rid of coal-fired power generation, SA is discussing how to improve it, Mantashe said. “[It’s] put us in trouble with many people. They are looking for my head because I’m not saying we must move from coal to renewables.”
He stressed that renewable energy “is not the only story in town” and would have to co-exist with other technologies given that the country’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) provides for a range of technologies to contribute to SA’s energy security. “The current polemic nature of the debate is not helpful; energy requires all technologies,” he said.
Even so, SA’s IRP gives renewable power the biggest growth allocation while coal’s part in the energy mix will be reduced from 75% to 59% in 2030.
Mantashe said SA’s commitment to clean technologies and reduction of its greenhouse gas emissions remains, but that smaller countries should not throw away the resources they have because developed economies have taken certain decisions. While SA must seek to comply with global trends and, indeed, reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, it must also look after its interests, he said.
In response to SA’s worsening power crunch, last week Mantashe’s department released a request for information (RFI) to assess what options are available for emergency power generation.
“We will continue looking for solutions. We must use all sources and technologies at our disposal,” Mantashe said.
He said the rand had strengthened against the dollar when the IRP was released and again last week when the RFI was released, and that this indicates the market appreciates that a systematic approach must be taken.
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