The Department of Energy welcomes the appointment of South Africa to the Chair of the 17th Congress of Parties and, will work hard to support the Minister of the Department of International Relations and Coordination in carrying out the duties incumbent to the post on behalf of the nation and, the continent.
With regards the Energy agenda, the current reality is that more than 65% of South Africa's total energy needs are met through coal as the primary energy source. This is followed by crude oil at around 22%, while the remaining 13% of our energy needs are met by gas, nuclear, hydro and renewable energy sources combined. Coal therefore plays the dominant role in our supply of energy, especially in the electricity sector where approximately 90% of the country’s electricity is produced in coal-fired power stations, (the country's biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions), while nuclear, natural gas; hydro and renewable energy sources make up the remaining 10%.
We cannot, however ignore the fact that we are a coal-rich economy, nor can we ignore the significant contribution of the coal mining industry towards the economy. In 2010 South Africa had an estimated 32 billion tonnes of coal reserves (which at current local consumptions rates can last us more than 100 years to come) and according to Statistics South Africa, the coal mining sector contributed about 1.8% of GDP directly.
The White Paper on Energy Policy for South Africa states that “not only must government increase its capacity to deal with the pressing needs of the day, but it must also improve its ability to address long-term issues, such as the development of renewable energy resources to achieve a more sustainable energy mix”. Therefore, these statistics should not and have not deterred us from acknowledging the other reality of the impact that coal-related emissions have on health, the environment and of course climate change.
As a country we are committed to playing our part to reducing total emissions and therefore moving towards a low-carbon economy. As we are all aware, this commitment was entrenched when the President pledged for South Africa to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 34% by the year 2020 and further tighten this target by reducing emissions by 42% by the year 2025, provided technology and finance are made available.
The signing of the Green Economy Accord by the government and its social partners two weeks ago marks yet another significant milestone in achieving this. Of the 12 commitments made in the accord,some are direct contributions by the energy.
In May this year, we promulgated the Integrated Resource Plan (commonly referred to as the IRP) for Electricity, which is a 20-year capacity expansion plan for the electricity sector. The IRP seeks to have an energy mix whereby 42% of all new capacity is from renewable energy sources, followed by 23% from nuclear, 15% from coal, 9% from liquid fuels, 6% from natural gas and 6% from imported hydro. This plan sees renewable energy playing a more significant role and eventually contributing 9% towards the total energy mix for electricity generation.
We aim to achieve our target of installing one million solar water heaters in homes by 2014; and securing commitments from the private sector for the supply of 3 725 MW of renewable energy by 2016. This capacity will primarily be from solar, wind, biogas, biomass, landfill gas and small hydro technologies. The Wind Atlas project which is being undertaken by various research institutions including SANEDI and the CSIR aims to develop and employ numerical wind atlas methods and develop capacity to enable large scale of exploitation of wind power in South Africa.
Given the fact that we are a coal-rich economy, the accord also commits the government to have an increased focus on the advancement of clean coal technologies through projects such as underground coal gasification, as well as carbon capture and storage (CCS) through our energy research and development institute (SANEDI).
CCS is a key potential greenhouse mitigation option for the country and as the energy sector we are committed to its implementation. We want to invest in CCS technologies, and efforts have been made to scale these technologies up to a commercial scale. In this regard, the South African Centre for Carbon Capture and Storage (SACCCS) under SANEDI was established to support development and deployment of geological sequestration in the country. The South African “Carbon-Dioxide Geological Storage Atlas” launched in 2010 identified significant (150 Gigatons) potential CO2 storage capacity in the country. The next milestone for the centre is for development of the technologies which will enable the first test injection to be up and running by 2016.
If we are serious about diversification towards a low carbon economy, we cannot ignore the role that natural gas can play as a bridging option in this transition, because natural gas emits significantly lower greenhouse gases than other fossil fuels such as coal and crude oil. Coal Bed Methane (CBM), is no longer regarded as an obstacle in the coal mining sector and is instead fast becoming known as a commercially viable energy source. It is also increasingly important that we collaborate with our neighbours such as Mozambique (with whom we already have long term cooperation on gas supply), Namibia, Angola, Botswana and Zimbabwe. Regional cooperation (similar to that which is well-established in Europe) is essential if we are to tackle energy development successfully whileassisting each other with our developmental needs.
South Africa already imports a substantial amount of gas from Mozambique, which is primarily used for Gas-to-Liquid plants and other industrial processes. Plans are currently underway to construct a gas-fired power plant with 140MW capacity through a joint venture between Sasol and the local Mozambican power utility. Natural gas is not only beneficial in that it has less carbon content than coal and crude oil, but gas fired plants require less water; have shorter construction times; and have lower capital costs per unit of capacity when compared to coal fired plants.
South Africa is a highly-fuel dependant country, with 22% of overall energy consumption being that of liquid fuels. Approximately 70% of this is from crude oil as a primary energy source while the remaining 30% is from coal. The green economy accord also commits government to facilitate the development of a local biofuels industry and setting targets for the mandatory blending of bio-ethanol and bio-diesel into petrol and diesel. In this regard we have published draft regulations which make it mandatory for oil refineries to blend 2% and 5% of petrol and diesel with bio-ethanol and bio-diesel respectively. This will primarily reduce the quantity of emissions from vehicles. However, blending of biofuels alone is not sufficient in addressing the carbon footprint of the sector, and there is a need to move to cleaner fuels specifications such as those already adopted in most parts of Europe. This will require substantial investments as current refining technologies will have to be overhauled to adapt to new specifications.We are currently weighing out the option of constructing a new refinery in accordance to these new specifications. This will ensure that we reduce emissions from the sector whilst at the same time meeting the increasing demand.
We are a water-constrained country, however, not all of Africa is. The Congo River and its Inga Dam in the DRC provide a significant potential for energy. President JG Zuma recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the Grand Inga Hydroelectric Project with thePresident of the Democratic Republic of Congo. This project has an estimated capacity of 40 000 MW which has the potential to change the African energy sector and it would significantly increase Africa generation capacity. This will enhance energy access to clean and efficient energy across the continent and contribute significantly towards a low carbon economy and economic development.
In order to keep a balance between energy security and sustainable development, we realise that moving towards a low carbon economy is not going to be an overnight event. It will be a difficult but deliberate process where we will draw on our own previous experience as well as the experiences of other countries.We believe that the targets which we have set ourselves, and therefore this transition, are achievable. However it cannot be accomplished without the introduction of new technologies and the investments associated with such technologies. The options are many and a wide range of technologies will be essential to achieve stable economic growth, energy security and environmental sustainability. To address these challenges, collaboration between different nations, globally and regionally, is essential as this will ensure rapid and large-scale development of low-carbon technologies.
In line with Integrated Resource Plan 2010-2030 commitment for the department to grow the level of renewable to 42% of the energy mix by 2030, the Department of Energy is profiling six renewable technology flagship projects at COP17 and, they are: the Solar Energy Park which will be located in the thriving town of Upington on the banks of the Orange River in the Northern Cape Province.
The Solar Water Heating programme which is intended as a mitigation measure in the light of the electricity shortages experienced from the Eskom grid. The Solar Water Heating programme will also promote energy efficiency and the use of alternative energy.
The Municipal Energy Efficiency and Demand Side Management Programme replaces inefficient building, traffic and street lights with energy efficient technologies. In addition, low-pressure Solar Water Heating systems are installed in low income households.
The Northern Cape’s Comprehensive Community Solar Energy Project, is a rural electrification initiative with the main goal of rolling-out community driven solar energy home systems that can offer real alternatives for energy for basic applications such as lighting, safety, security and education. The project tests and demonstrates in practice, new approaches, technologies and project or business ideas on rural electrification. During the period of the implementation of the pilot project from December 2010 up to October 2011, 200 solar home systems and 10 street lights were installed.
The SA Wind Projects features three elements namely, Sere, Coega and, the SANEDI wind atlas. At Sere in the Western Cape Province, Eskom is currently constructing its 100MW flagship renewable project. It demonstrates the utility’s commitment to sustainable development projects and, its pledge to move towards a cleaner energy future by reducing its dependence on coal and diversifying its energy mix. Located at the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro, Coega’s first 1.8 MW turbine was completed and linked to the grid in May 2011. The output of the turbines was used to power the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The SANEDI Wind Atlas project aims to improve knowledge and quality of wind resource assessment methods and tools, as well as to ensure availability of tools and data for planning and application for wind farm developments, off-grid electrification and extreme wind studies.
The Low Energy Modular Low Cost Housing and Ekurhuleni Low Carbon Low Cost Housing project includes the construction of low carbon, low energy, low cost houses utilising an innovative high strength concrete performance system. The system is based on the use of the prefabricated modular elements using high performance concrete and high efficient insulating material. The project is implemented in corporation with LTE Energy and, is located in the OR Tambo Narrative and Environmental Centre at Wattville in Benoni, Gauteng province.
In closing I wish to invite the media to view the five Energy Flagship projects at the CCR area near the media working area. At the Energy exhibition stand journalists can see and interact with various energy entities demonstrating energy efficiency strategies and activities like the Carbon Capture Storage and, stakeholders such as Wonderbag.
In addition the DoE has a programme of 24 Energy Side Events taking place at the Umdloti Room at the CCR also in the media working area. Topics under discussion have included the Nuclear energy programme, Carbon Capture Storage.
