SA’s reliance on coal for fuel and electricity production will not come to an end any time soon, but the country’s international climate commitments will require coal-based energy generation to become cleaner.
Mineral resources & energy minister Gwede Mantashe, who has faced criticism in the past over his emphasis on coal, said that developing countries such as SA should not base their energy transition on what works in the world’s advanced economies.
Mantashe, who was speaking at a discussion with CEOs of SA coal mining companies at the Council for Geoscience in Pretoria, said the economic importance of coal for SA must be considered when making decisions about energy transition and SA’s move from higher to lower carbon emissions.
He told coal miners they need not “be shy to fight for SA’s national interests on coal mining and coal power stations”, but in doing so they also had to “demonstrate [their] commitment to the just energy transition].
“At an international level, governments have developed and rectified legislation to cut down the use of coal in electricity generation. As a replacement, environmentally friendly technologies are subsidised with the hope that soon they will replace coal in the generation of electricity. For developing nations such as SA, coal is a very affordable source of primary energy, and it is abundantly available,” he said.
Coal accounted for about 75% of SA’s electricity generation and 30% of petroleum liquid fuels. It also contributed 21% (R130.57bn) of total mining revenue (R609bn). In addition, Mantashe said, coal was the third-largest employer in the mining industry directly employing 89,548 people (20% of total mining industry employment).
The Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) 2019 made provision for an additional 1,500MW to be added to the national energy supply from coal-fired power stations until 2027. The minister said that for projects to be approved new coal-fired power stations would, however, have to make use of cleaner coal technologies.
As a significant player in the country’s economy, the government did not want to “sterilise the development of its coal resources”, but it wanted new coal power projects to be based on “high efficiency, low-emission technologies and other cleaner coal technologies”.
According to Mantashe, strong international coal prices of about $130/tonne have raised the attractiveness of exports. Global coal consumption was expected to continue an upward trend in the medium term, driven by demand from developing nations in Asia, Africa and South America, which would offset the decline in Europe and US.
India, SA’s biggest coal export market, has agreed to voluntarily reduce greenhouse gases emissions, but so far this had not affected SA coal exports to that country.
Other areas for possible export growth, in addition to India, included countries such as Pakistan, Malaysia, Taiwan and Bangladesh, he said.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.