Locally, coal exports are approaching long-term decline, according to a new report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis published this month.
The report comes as SA makes moves towards renewable energy generation in the country as power utility Eskom is burdened with a R450 billion debt. In his State of the Nation Address earlier in the year, president Cyril Ramaphosa announced that debt-ridden power utility Eskom would be unbundled into three divisions – generation, transmission and distribution – which would fall under an Eskom parent company.
Eskom currently meets over 90% of SA’s power needs. Although SA’s energy sector is still largely coal-driven, government is pushing to support renewables energy sector. The government says in 2030, SA’s energy mix will consist of 34 000MW of coal, representing 46% of installed capacity; 11 930MW of gas, or 16% of installed capacity; 11 442MW of wind, or 15% of installed capacity; 7 958MW of photovoltaic ; and 4 696MW of hydropower, or 6% of installed capacity.