SA moves towards cleaner energy
2012/02/29

Unpacking the country's plan for a diversified energy mix during government's Infrastructure Development Cluster briefing, Energy Minister Dipuo Peters said her department had commenced with policies and strategies to bring life to the plan.

The plan - called the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP2010) - places specific emphasis on broadening electricity supply technologies to include gas, imports, nuclear, biomass, renewables (wind, solar and hydro), in response to both the country's future electricity needs as well as reduce its CO2 emissions.

South Africa wants to procure 3 725 MW of renewable energy through this process. According to the IRP2010 - which is a 20-year projection on electricity supply and demand - about 42% of electricity generated in South Africa is required to come from renewable resources.

As it stands, about 90% of the energy is produced from burning coal, which in turn has a negative impact on the county’s carbon footprint.

The IRP proposes the development of new generation capacity for South Africa which takes cognisance of the need to optimise costs, promote job creation and mitigate adverse climate change.

It also makes provision for 9.6 Gigawatts of nuclear power; 6.3 GW of coal, 11.4 GW of renewable energy, and 11.0 GW of other generation sources.

Responding to questions from media about the building of nuclear power plants, Peters said they would play a major role in raising supply security for the country. She said pronouncements pertaining to progress in the nuclear build programme would be made later in the year.

The National Nuclear Energy Executive Coordination Committee (NNEECC) would "oversee" the roll-out of the nuclear build programme, and look into the decision-making about the procurement of the stations.

"The committee will make decisions in a phased manner in order to reduce the risks associated with large scale implementation of such projects," she said. BuaNews