‘I’m no coal fundamentalist. I’m a balanced energy thinker’: Gwede Mantashe hits back at critics

ANC national chairperson and energy minister Gwede Mantashe takes exception to people who have branded him a “coal fundamentalist” for his position on the contentious “just energy transition” debate that continues to rage.

Mantashe was speaking in Mangaung at a discussion on energy security as the ANC prepares to host its birthday celebration on Sunday.

The former secretary-general of the governing party said his “strong views” on the energy challenges facing the country cannot be confused with him pushing for coal to remain on the baseload at all costs.

He said he was an open-minded “thinker” on energy issues.

Mantashe has been on the receiving end of attacks for his insistence that the country should not abandon coal-fired power stations as the main source of energy generation while being an opponent of an aggressive move towards renewable energy.

“There are a few things we must resolve. There is load-shedding. Is it an energy crisis? Is it a baseload crisis? Is it a peaking crisis?” he asked.

“We must resolve that. Secondly, can renewables on their own resolve the load-shedding crisis? I have a very strong view on this matter.

“I have been given the title of being a ‘polluter of the year’ because people believe I am a coal fundamentalist. I am not. I am a very balanced energy thinker. I know energy is an important catalyst for economic growth and economic development.”

A former Eskom CEO who was a panellist in the discussion, Jacob Maroga, said the country’s energy strategy has to be aligned to its economic vision.

According to him, the problem is Eskom’s coal baseload is expected to perform at more than 70% but is performing just above 50%.

If the country could tackle this problem and Eskom was able to perform at optimum level through its coal-fired power stations, a transition to something else may not be necessary, he argued.

Maroga said: “Unless we solve this baseload crisis in the short to medium term we may not see the transition because in the end the economy is bleeding. We must solve this baseload coal fleet.

“In my view, the coal fleet has value and longevity. The issue is budget focus and execution.”

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