By Nneka Nwogwugwu
South Africa’s energy minister, Gwede Mantache has opposed ban on new coal-fired power projects, saying that the government should not impose other conditions as a funding requirement to help reduce its environmental footprint.
Mantache worked against the ban by skipping meetings with climate envoys from the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, France and the European Union last month, where concessional loans and grants of nearly $ 5 billion were initially discussed.
The envoy aims to reach an emission reduction agreement with South Africa that may be announced at the COP26 Climate Change Conference starting later this month in Glasgow, and other countries seeking a transition to green energy.
“They must not give us conditions, they are developed countries. We are a developing country. They need to talk to our program.” Mantache said in an interview on Tuesday.
Mantache has repeatedly emphasized the safety of electricity supply as a priority and has promoted coal, nuclear power and gas as power sources to replace older coal-fired power plants. South Africa has been exposed to a record year of power outages and is being implemented to prevent a complete disruption of the grid if the state’s utilities are unable to meet demand.
The country is the 12th largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world, with wind and solar energy currently accounting for only about 6% of supply and coal accounting for more than 80%.
Mantache’s attitude appears to be at odds with President Cyril Ramaphosa, who spoke in a letter to the country this week about the need to reduce emissions and obtain climate aid. The president said the consequences of not doing so would ultimately undermine South Africa’s trading capacity, as tariffs could be levied on carbon-rich commodities.
Environment Minister Barbara Creecy and the country’s two largest coal users, Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd and Sasol Ltd, have stated that while renewable energy is increasing, gas will be needed as a transition fuel. The government has recently increased its stake in pipelines that bring fuel from Mozambique, and Mantache is calling for faster steps to enable the import of liquefied natural gas, Eminetra reports.