Eskom’s addiction to diesel cannot be tolerated for much longer and South African minister of energy, Tina Joemat-Pettersson, is determined to wean it off what she describes as an “unhealthy and expensive drug”.
“I have to take this diesel addict off this substance,” she told delegates at the first Gas Options conference held in Cape Town this week. “I have to give it another drug – one that is a little cheaper – and that is gas. I have an agreement with Eskom to convert open cycle gas turbines (OCGTs) back to gas.”
One of the power stations high on the agenda, she said, was Ankerlig in the Western Cape which was currently running off diesel. “Our dependency on coal and diesel has to decrease. Eskom has an expensive drug habit.”
Under tremendous strain and struggling to keep the lights on, Eskom has been powering its OCGTs using diesel at a cost of around a billion a month.
“South Africa is distinctive in a number of respects in its consumption of energy compared to other energy markets globally,” said Joemat-Pettersson. “We want to behave as a developed country, but we don’t use gas like a developed country. At the same time we have to demystify the stereotypes about gas in the country. Too many people see it as dangerous.”
South Africa is said to have the second highest dependency on coal in the world after North Korea and cannot afford to continue in its current format.
“When we look at coal consumption by sector it shows South Africa is unusual in that we consume the majority of our gas supply in the “energy industry own use” sector,” said Joemat-Pettersson. “We also do not have significant natural gas consumption in the power sector – whereas the power sector globally consumes about 40% of all gas supply.”
Whilst reserves in South Africa have yet to be proven, Joemat-Pettersson said the possibilities and opportunities existed and it was only a matter of unlocking these.
