Ramokgopa vows more aggressive approach to renewables in energy mix

Minister of electricity and energy Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says he is planning to permanently eradicate load-shedding.

“Today Eskom marks more than six months without scheduled load-shedding. We must reach a point where we forget the counting as a result of having permanently resolved the problem,” he said on X. 

Ramokgopa was delivering a compelling keynote address on Tuesday at Standard Bank’s fourth Climate Summit. This year’s summit included dynamic panel discussions centred on the critical themes shaping Africa's energy transition.

“The last time I was here, we were in the throws of load-shedding. I think last year we experienced the highest intensity of load-shedding in the recorded history of Eskom's over 100 years,” he said.

Ramokgopa highlighted the urgent need for solutions and the detrimental affects of load-shedding on the South African economy and citizens.

“We're able to articulate the implications of load-shedding, its structural constraints on the South African economy, the kind of devastation that is afflicting the lived experiences of ordinary people and businesses, and just the inability of the South African economy to experience the kind of growth that we are capable of achieving.”

Ramokgopa expressed confidence in the team at Eskom: “The men and women at Eskom are transfixed on the resolution of this problem. With the engineers at the helm, there is no load-shedding.”

He praised the efforts of Eskom's leadership and underscored the importance of their work in overcoming the energy crisis.

“Once we get to a situation where I'm invited to a gathering and no-one can remember the number of days without load-shedding, then we have achieved something.”

This follows his keynote address on Monday at the ministerial renewable energy seminar in Midrand. Ramokgopa spoke on the R270bn backlog in infrastructure projects within the energy sector.

He said those issues had been resolved through intense engagements with directors-general. He assured independent power producers (IPPs) that procurement challenges were actively being addressed, highlighting the seminar's goal of enhancing private investment in the renewable energy sector.

“We are improving the bid windows to iron out inefficiencies,” he noted, indicating a commitment to a more streamlined procurement process for renewable energy projects.

Ramokgopa detailed plans for a comprehensive review of the IPP procurement process, vowing a more aggressive approach to integrating renewables into SA’s energy mix.

Acknowledging the pressing issues of energy security and high emissions from coal-fired power stations, Ramokgopa emphasised the need for a balanced approach.

“When we go out and say we are aggressive, we want to achieve the kind of increases of renewables as part of the mix. It's part of the totality of that mix.”

He pointed out the environmental implications, saying, “It's important that we are able to protect the interest of posterity, the harmful effects of these emissions to the immediate environment.

“We really want the industry to thrive [and] make South Africa the preferred destination for this capital [so we can] run the most ambitious and successful of all renewable programmes from a public procurement point of view.”

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