Regional gas masterplan on the cards

The development of a regional gas master plan would go a long way to addressing energy needs in southern Africa, said Nomfundo Maseti, full-time regulator member for piped gas and electricity regulation at the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa). According to Maseti, the expanded integration of natural gas into southern Africa’s energy mix is a critical step forward for the region which has been plagued with unreliable supply for years now. While countries have individually attempted to address energy requirements, the aligning of gas plans was gaining popularity and a gas master plan was currently being developed. “The discussions have started in earnest,” she said, referring to the SADC Heads of State and government summit held in June last year. “All of the SADC energy ministers attended a workshop where a clear commitment was made to develop a gas master plan for the SADC,” she said. Maseti said far more would be achieved working together as a region. While it was a document in progress and still unclear exactly what it involved and would require from each country, it was agreed that a report outlining SADC’s approach to the development of regional gas resources must be presented at the next SADC Heads of State summit scheduled for August this year. According to Maseti, while there are existing arrangements for gas between countries like South Africa and Mozambique for example, the strengthening of bilateral agreements was important to make a regional gas plan work. “Mozambique cannot be missing from any conversation about gas in southern Africa,” she said. Maseti said she believed the market would see fierce competition in the energy space going forward, particularly looking at the declining prices of solar and the improved availability of gas. “Gas has not made its voice heard as much as it should have,” she said. “A gas policy for the region is extremely important to understand what the role of gas will be going forward. I don’t think gas is just a transition source of energy, but rather has the potential to diversify our energy mix and provide security of supply. It will also contribute towards the low carbon economies we are striving for.” Maseti said for gas to really work it did, however, require southern Africa to work together