How South Africa can accelerate its transition to green energy
By Mandisa V. Xuba
While South Africa remains the continent’s largest electricity market, its power sector, due to its large dependence on coal, suffers from frequent supply shortages and rising tariffs which is further influenced by lower energy intensity. The comforting news is the country’s progressive movement towards the large-scale deployment of renewables. This transition is particularly important considering the country’s dependence on coal and the Mpumalanga province being the biggest producer of such, producing approximately 80% of the country’s coal. With this said, experts have frequently raised the question on how the province can help re-shape the country’s energy sector in order to attain energy security.
According to the Mpumalanga Green Economy Development Plan, the province aims to go ‘green’ by the year 2030. The plan does, however, highlight that the transition towards a green economy involves some drastic shifts from traditional methods, which are resource intensive, that focuses on biomass energy. It is no wonder that the province has been so proactive in accelerating transition to green energy which will ultimately creates business opportunities and helps the South African economy transition into a labour-absorbing green focused region by repurposing land on ultimately decommissioned mines and coal fired stations to pivot to renewable energy production.
While it is thrilling to discuss or highlight the advantages of this energy transition, one has to also take into consideration the challenges that are at play. For example, the increasing role of renewable resources to fill the gap left behind by decommissioned coal plants is associated with major socioeconomic challenges, as the shift requires a restructuring not only of the power sector, but also of employment. Given that the coal sector is a major employer in South Africa and notably the Mpumalanga province, understanding the impact of the switch to low-carbon electricity on employment and the economy is very crucial in ensuring the smooth transition process for all those employed in the sector.
In conclusion, the adoption of renewables is likely to have socio-economic impacts on coal dependent regions such as Mpumalanga. In midst of all that, it is heart-warming to see that this province hopes to create sustainable jobs through the reduced dependence on coal produced energy. There is a lot of good that can come from investing in clean energy. The drop in renewable energy costs makes it feasible for Mpumalanga to make the transit. This is further amplified by the fact that solar and wind resources in the province are relatively higher than the average globally.
