The National Planning Commission (NPC) hosted a roundtable discussion this month on its energy paper, which was released in February.

The discussion covered mainly coal and carbon pricing, the end state of the electricity industry, nuclear energy, the integration of renewables into the national grid and whether or not the life span of existing coal-fired power stations should be extended.

NPC commissioner Jarrad Wright and NPC secretariat head Tshediso Matona said the energy paper was aimed at assisting the country in achieving the transformative goals envisioned in the National Development Plan 2030, while remaining cognisant of the dynamic environment within which the global and domestic energy sector operated.

The NPC aims to assist government in making decisions that are informed by stakeholder engagements to solicit views, advice, critique and endorsement of issues affecting the energy sector.

Attendees at the roundtable included representatives from the departments of Energy, Mineral Resources, Public Enterprises and Science and Technology; the National Treasury; financial service providers such as Standard Bank; energy fund companies; independent power producer organisations; researchers; and economic advisers.

Economic risk consultant Rob Jeffrey pointed out that, if South Africa were to move away from coal-fired power generation, it would have a significant impact on the economy in terms of employment. He stated that clean coal technologies and their cost structures were superior to other technologies.

Department of Science and Technology hydrogen and energy chief director Rebecca Maserumule also advocated for the adoption of clean coal technologies.

An NPC secretariat member rebutted the notion that the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) did consider transitioning away from coal-fired power generation. “Energy transition should be just, but just transition should not be confused with delayed transition. Coal and other fossil fuels add to climate change, which are big considerations for a just energy transition.”

Meanwhile, with regard to an end state for electricity, the NPC discussed the changing electricity structure necessary to form part of a global economy.

State-owned power utility Eskom energy thought leader Mike Rossouw said electricity planning had always been a battle that entailed choosing between generation technologies, but added that planning should be more open-minded and unbiased towards specific technologies.

Other attendees agreed, saying that, ultimately, government should have an end-state vision that talked to the policy, and vice versa. “We are fixated on technology . . . but, first, we need a vision for what the energy sector should look like and wants to achieve.”

Jeffrey said the end-state vision should focus on economic growth. “We need security of supply at the lowest price, with the most efficient technology. “To accommodate the estimated extra 16-million people that South Africa will have by 2035, the economy needs to grow by 5% [a year], which can only happen with sustainable electricity supply – even if demand is not there at the moment.”

Matona commented that South Africa should always be cognisant of its competitiveness within a global network and what investors wanted, which would enable economic growth.

Moreover, representatives from the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) suggested that South Africa should consider current issues other than only future economic growth, such as the necessity to replace Eskom’s existing coal-fired power stations within the next 15 years and that land reform plans were also going to affect energy plans.

Other comments centred on the need to consider that the country was endowed with some of the best renewable resources – wind and solar – for power generation and that building nuclear plants, instead of renewables, would underplay this potential.

Additionally, opening up investment opportunities with renewables would contribute to employment at megaprojects, exporting energy and growing the economy.

University of the Witwatersrand honorary research fellow Dr Antonie Cilliers added that government should look at the country’s specific geography and what South Africa could offer investors.

Further, various benefits and disadvantages were discussed, with Necsa stating that nuclear energy produced the least amount of carbon emissions, as well as waste, contrary to popular belief.

Stakeholders also referred to the concern around countering the intermittence of renewables with energy storage, which would be expensive to implement, although operating renewable plants had become cheaper in the last five years.

Renewables also required a lot of space, Jeffrey pointed out, which would have a massive impact on the environment – especially on ecologically sensitive areas.

However, the NPC said climate change was going to affect ecosystems and be the order of the day anyway if sustainable energy resources were not considered and used.

Moreover, stakeholders endorsing gas as a source of power said that gas was a solution to not only supplement renewables during off-times (from sunset, for solar, and when the wind was not blowing) but also use as a transitional source of energy while either renewable plants or nuclear plants were being built.

The NCP representatives stated that all evidence-based information should be considered rationally, practically and in the best interests of South Africa and its energy users and not in the interests of the biggest advocates of specific technologies.

Wright concluded the session by pointing out that the energy paper would be updated with more information after further public engagements in KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape in April.