Thank you Programme Director for the kind introductions Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen Good Morning On behalf of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, It is an honour and privilege to welcome you to the Power, Renewable Energy Forum, It is through gatherings like this one that we get to reflect on the issues facing the energy sector, share ideas and together chart the way forward. I would like to start my address this morning by recalling the following facts: 1. Africa’s modern energy use per capita remains among the lowest in the world, and this is despite ample energy resources across the continent. a. Around 600 million people on the continent lack access to electricity, about 60% of them in sub-Saharan Africa b. Over 900 million lack access to clean cooking sources. 2. The continent accounts for just 6% of global energy use and less than 3% of global energy-related carbo emissions. Access to affordable, reliable, and sustainable forms of energy in line with Sustainable Development Goal 7 is therefore crucial for the continent. For South Africa, ensuring energy security is a priority for the government. The Integrated Resource Plan supported with the Energy Action Plan remains the government roadmap that guides our actions to ensure security whilst dealing with sustainability and access. The Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) identifies the preferred electricity generation mix required to meet expected electricity demand growth for South Africa. The plan is developed considering the energy trilemma which is energy security, affordability, and sustainability. It is important to approach the trilemma in a holistic and integrated manner considering the interconnections and tensions between these three competing goals. Energy security considerations are more than simply matching supply and demand now and in the future. It is also about ensuring power system adequacy which is the ability of the power system to react promptly to sudden changes in the supply-demand balance. This is in essence the reason all electricity or power systems consist of a mix of technologies. The Independent Power Producers Programme of our Department plays a pivotal role in accelerating the adoption of renewable energy sources. In fact, in November this year it will be 14 years since the launch of the first renewable energy bid window, and we have come a very long way since then. Over 7.0 GW connected to the grid. For South Africa must continue to pursue a diversified energy mix that reduces reliance on a single or a few primary energy sources. For security of supply in the short to medium term, which is the period between now and 2030, the country must continue with the different electricity generation initiatives as outlined in the IRP 2019. For the long term, we believe that there are multiple pathways that the country can follow but to ensure security of supply these cannot solely be based technical analysis (power system modelling and simulation) they must consider other government needs and policies including risk to energy sovereignty. Our future energy path choice must consider our national circumstances and economic growth plans.
Our plans to net-zero must put innovation at the fore-front. The EIA report on reaching net-zero points to the fact that part of the solutions to the world reaching net-zero will be from technologies not yet developed. We must therefore look at the Energy Transition with the lens of reducing emissions instead of that of replacing technologies or energy sources. It is not going to be a smooth downward curve, what is important is for the trend to point towards emissions reductio goal Our expectation is that the outcome of this conference should enbolden the resolve to attain the energy transformation goal as set by AU , Africa Agenda 2063, which talks Africa harnessing its own natural resources ensuring access to modern , efficient reliable and cost effective energy sources to households, industries and businesses. We are looking forward the discussions and deliberations on how we can successfully take forward the sector! I thank you!