by Roger Lilley, Energize

“I am not against renewables”, Mantashe said, “but coal is here to stay”. He was responding to a silent demonstration which took place as he presented his keynote address at the recent Africa Energy Indaba. The protestors had stood silently, at the foot of the podium, brandishing banners which accused Mantashe of blocking renewable energy projects.

Gwede Mantashe, the minister of mineral resources and energy, says that moving away from coal to renewable energy will not solve South Africa’s energy crisis. The crisis, he says, exists because of Eskom’s low energy availability factor (EAF). This low EAF, which has fallen below 50%, has resulted in severe constraints in supply so that Eskom, being unable to meet demand, has resorted to ever-increasing levels (known as Stages) of load shedding.

According to Mantashe, additional generation capacity is not needed to reduce load shedding. What is needed is for the EAF to improve dramatically. This was the task given to the new board of Eskom when it was appointed late last year.

Nonetheless, more generation will be added to mitigate further damage to the economy. This additional power will be provided by the private sector using gas as a primary energy source. Powerships, which have helped other African countries, could be included in the risk mitigation procurement process, the minister added.

The prime reason for a declining EAF, Mantashes says, is a lack of adequate and timely maintenance of the power generating equipment. No mention was made regarding Eskom’s claims of corruption, sabotage, or thievery.

Although coal is seen as a “dirty” technology, a large number of people depend on the coal mining industry for their livelihoods, he said. Closing the coal mines would create ghost towns and severe hardship for the residents of those towns.

But, says Mantashe, in support of a transition to cleaner electricity generation, his department procured more renewable energy over the last four years (since he was appointed minister) than in all the previous years.

Just energy transition 

Referring to the country’s ‘just energy transition’ plans, the minister said that the energy sector must transition to a system that would provide affordable electricity to address the current energy poverty. To achieve that, the minister says, the energy sector must not be tied to any particular electricity generating mechanism and there should be no limit to any particular technology.

For this reason, he added, coal, gas, nuclear, hydropower, solar, wind, and battery storage technologies are all included in the country’s integrated resource plan (IRP2019). He added that a debate that polarises technologies - pitting one against another - was unhelpful. He suggested that the massive jump in the licence-free generation allowance (from 1 MW to 100 MW) helped the growth of renewable energy in South Africa. 

Africa is endowed with resources such as coal, oil and gas which are needed for baseload energy to power our industrialisation, Mantshe added. Our continent deserves the opportunity develop its own oil and gas infrastructure storage, refinery, and distribution to cushion its people against the turbulence of global markets and thereby secure its continental energy needs. Unlike others, Africa must invest in the research of green technologies such as carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) to minimise the impact on the planet. He said that since the country has coal mining and coal-to-power infrastructures the transition should include a move from high emission to low emission coal fired power plants.

Regarding bailouts 

Furthermore, Mantashe says that the idea that Government has been giving money to Eskom as ‘bailouts’ was wrong. The money given to Eskom, he says, is a premium the Government pays Eskom to compensate for the increased cost of electricity it purchases from the private sector.

These purchases have been imposed upon Eskom, the minister says, to motivate and attract renewable energy companies to operate in South Africa.This, he says, indicates his department’s commitment to both the just energy transition and to renewable energy.

According to the minister, the cost of electricity from independent power producers in the first four bid windows was significantly higher than what Eskom could generate electricity for from its own coal-fired and nuclear power stations. The government was duty-bound, the minister infers, to cover those costs.