Academic institutions in South Africa are proving talk is definitely not cheap. They have opened up platforms to discuss the Just Energy Transition, in addition to existing Government rollout initiatives. Most of these are held online as public lectures and sessions. We report on recent platforms by the University of Pretoria and the Graduate School of Business Network, where the Wits University facilitates discussions relevant to the Global South.
It came to light at the University of Pretoria’s platform that loadshedding has affected production to the value of R1, 25 trillion. There is a forecast of R1, 6 trillion for 2023, if the challenge is not addressed rapidly, this according to Minister of Electricity in the Presidency, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa.
He spoke at the University of Pretoria’s Just Energy Transition platform of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Presidential Climate Commission (PCC).
He said 689,000 jobs were lost in 2022 with a forecast of 859,000 loss in 2023, as a result of loadshedding.
Among other solutions to fasttrack renewable energy and snailpace coal, is the opportunity presented by Regional integration. This includes projects such as the Inga project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has the potential to supply 5000 Megawatts to South Africa, and more to neighbouring Zambia and Ethiopia.
The transmission of electricity to other parts of the country outside Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo, will require solutions from the private sector. He also said the next bid Window would have considerations where the market is not allowed to direct the process but the issue of space and capacity will also count.
He also said partnerships with the private sector is important to finance projects.
Energy technologies
The role of technology was the focus of the 3rd discussions about the global energy transition organized by the Graduate Business School Network (GBSN) on the 25th July 2023. Panelist Dr Thembakazi Mali, Senior Vice President for Research and Technology at Sasol, said Sub-Saharan Africa has a sizeable amount of the continent’s energy poverty.
Asked by facilitator of the session, Dr Lwazi Ngubevana of the Wits Business School, what technologies the global South should focus on, she said communities that are energy poor in areas where the grid cannot reach, need to consider renewable energy technologies like solar. “Containerized energy for business and job creation.”
Thabo Molekoa, Chairman MD of Siemens Energy South Africa, said different technologies are most suitable for different countries, there is no one-size fits all.
He also said the focus in the Global South, should be to increase renewable energy to focus on improving local economies.
” How do you localize technologies?” Molekoa said such would require a skilled workforce. “For example, with green hydrogen technologies, how do we prep ourselves to maximize the benefits in terms of input materials, to become enablers of technology.”
Jos Roling, Senior Architect at IBM Global Business Services Center of Competence for energy and Utilities in the Netherlands, who represented the Global North at the meeting, said top technologies that are most common towards a low carbon economy, are smart grids and those that do not overload the grid.
Dr Yamaha Ghiassi – Farrokhfal, Associate Professor at the Department of Technology and Operations Management at the Rotterdam School of Management, Netherlands, also a panelist representing the Global North, said better coordination is necessary between energy vectors and sectors.
He also said awareness is necessary in the transition, that reduction in consumption is still better than the introduction of new technologies.
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