Energy minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has vowed to accelerate the shift to renewable energy from coal, breaking with his predecessor who opposed swift decarbonisation and pledged to keeping burning coal for a long time.

Ramokgopa, who now runs the newly created energy & electricity ministry, was addressing journalists as South Africa marked more than 100 days with no power cuts — a record over years of crippling blackouts.

“I am going to be ultra-aggressive on … renewable energy. You are going to see an exponential share,” he told a news conference in Pretoria, adding that he wanted to signal to investors “our intention to go that route”.

Owing to its reliance on coal-fired power stations run by Eskom, South Africa is among the world’s top 15 greenhouse gas emitters — pushing out more than the UK, Turkey or France — and has the highest carbon intensity among the G20 largest economies, according to watchdog Climate Transparency.

“We are going to be the leaders on this continent in relation to renewables,” Ramakgopa said.

It cut a very different tone from predecessor Gwede Mantashe, who had repeatedly urged resisting international pressure to rush into green energy, questioning its viability.

President Cyril Ramaphosa chose his new cabinet at the end of last month, after weeks of horse-trading with other parties following the ANC’s unprecedented majority loss in the 29 May election.

Huge potential

Previously, energy had been tied to mines, under Mantashe, but Ramaphosa hived it off and merged it with Ramokgopa’s electricity ministry, in what analysts saw as a move to decouple energy from coal.

With 400 000sq km of semi-desert and a vast coastline battered by strong winds, South Africa also has some of the world’s most abundant renewable energy potential.

Yet policy uncertainty has discouraged investment, and activists bemoaned a government decision last year to delay decommissioning several coal-fired power stations well into 2030, citing energy security.

Ramokgopa admitted South Africa’s switch to green energy had “taken a bit longer than what is necessary”, and said his priority would be meeting businesspeople to discuss “the hurdles that undermined … their appetite to participate”.  — (c) 2024 Reuters