The next evolution of manufacturing and production will demand large quantities of energy – and the costs associated with that will have to be sustainable. Alf Hartzenburg of the National Cleaner Production Centre (NCPC) South Africa told delegates at the Manufacturing Indaba in Sandton recently that to sustain and grow South Africa’s industrial base, it was necessary to lessen its dependence on the current national electricity grid. Matleng Energy Solutions’ Neliswa Magubane agreed, pointing out that energy prices needed to drop to around 66 cents per kilowatt hour (KwH). To achieve this, the right mix of energy was necessary, she said – and this meant new energy solutions such as renewables, gas and nuclear still needed to be supported by the grid. “But it will be a very different grid to what we’re used to. Eskom will have to re-examine its business and supply chain model,” said Magubane, noting that the power parastatal would need to de-centralise its energy distribution and look at smaller, more regionalised grids. She said this could drastically change the current energy supply chain model. “There is likely to be more outsourcing of smaller transport contracts.” This brought “massive opportunities” for upstream and downstream energy manufacturers as well as the logistics sector driving the supply chain, said deputy director-general of Industrial Development at the Department of Trade and Industry (dti), Garth Strachan. Speaking to FTW on the sidelines of the conference, Strachan said the dti was working with various government departments to help grow local energy production, particularly around renewable energy as well as fuel cell manufacturing. “But policy cohesion is needed to ensure all government sector role players have the same end goal in mind, or else these projects will continue to be hampered by red tape and bureaucracy,” he said.
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Policy cohesion is needed to ensure all government sector role players have the same end goal in mind. – Garth Strachan
