President Ramaphosa on how to Tackle South Africa’s Climate and Energy Crisis

South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa says the country must tackle the climate change and energy crisis at the same time and that South Africa remains committed to environmental goals.

He also said that implementations are underway to reduce load-shedding. The plan to reduce load-shedding is to return units at the Kusile and Medupi power stations, which would add over 3,500 megawatts back into the grid together.

In his latest newsletter, the President stated that the country was making “real progress” and that the government remained committed to reducing carbon emissions through a just transition and reducing load-shedding.

“One of the issues widely discussed in light of the current electricity shortfall is the pace at which older coal-fired power stations that are coming to the end of their lives will be decommissioned,” said Ramaphosa.

“South Africa has committed to reducing its carbon emissions by 2030 to within a target range which, at its upper level, is compatible with limiting global temperature increase to 1.5ºC.”

The president went on to state that a number of countries in Europe had decommissioned their fossil-fuelled power stations to tackle the current energy crisis caused by the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

“The process of re-examining our timeframes is not a reversal of our position on the just energy transition. Other countries have had to do the same in recent years without deviating from their long-term shift to renewable energy sources,” Ramaphosa said.

“Any decision on decommissioning will be informed by a detailed technical assessment of the feasibility of continuing to operate older plants. It will also be informed by the timeframe in which we can expect new capacity from other energy sources and the impact on our decarbonisation trajectory,” he said.

“Our position is clear and principled: it is possible for us to prioritise our immediate energy needs without jeopardising our climate commitments, and we are determined to do so. In fact, we must accelerate the pace of investment in new renewable electricity generation as an important part of the plan to overcome load shedding.”