Coal and gas will continue to play a big role in Africa: Expert – SABC News
An energy expert says nuclear energy has played a role in efforts to diversify energy sources in Africa, but gas, coal and oil will continue to play a big role.
Delegates have been attending the Continental Energy and Infrastructure Investment Forum in Sun City in the North West province.
This comes as renewable energy like solar and wind plays a growing role in power generation in South Africa as the country works to mitigate the effects of climate change.
The delegates at the forum come from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Namibia, Zambia and Angola and South Africa.
Stratek Global Advanced Solutions Chairperson Dr Kevin Kemm says, “We’ve got to look from Africa with African eyes at what works for us. You’re not going to run an oil refinery on solar and wind, you’re not going to run mines on solar and wind and a whole lot of other things. So you better now start taking the six-year vision high, as was the case in the past.”
Kemm says, “In South Africa, in the past, when we built the big coal-fired power station, that was never a six-month project. You’ve got to have the six-year vision and that starts now. So, you have to say what we’ve got as options: you’ve got coal, you’ve got oil, you’ve got gas, for example. Now most of the African countries don’t have coal, oil, or gas.”
Coaltech South Africa CEO Avhurengwi Nengovhela made the case for coal in the Just Energy Transition debate.
Nengovhela says, “As Africans, we are endowed with coal resources and we know how to mine it. We’ve been doing it for 140 years. Why should we go borrow money from the West when we are sitting on top of beautiful coal resources? Why should we expose one million plus people to the effects of this Just Energy Transition? For what? Just so that we can go get a $ 12 million loan that we can pay for over 10, 20, 30 years, why? We’ve got the resources, we’ve got the know-how. Can we get serious as a continent and use the resources that we have?”