The newly-established Department of Energy on Wednesday announced its short- to medium-term priorities for the sector at a conference Cape Town.

The new department, which was formed when President Jacob Zuma split the Minerals and Energy department into two portfolios, will focus on issues such as renewable energy, energy efficiency and new generation capacity. It also announced that it planned to launch a green jobs initiative.

Addressing delegates attending the fifth annual African Utility Week, Department of Energy spokesperson Bheki Khumalo stated that the fledgling Ministry had developed a number of priorities for the sector.

Kumalo delivered the opening speech on behalf of newly-appointed Energy Minister Dipuo Peters, who was unable to attend the conference owing to Cabinet’s first meeting at Tuynhuys, in Cape Town.

The first priority outlined by Kumalo was the universal access to energy. In this regard, Khumalo stated that government would particularly concentrate on supplying electricity to poor communities.

"This will not only cover the electricity supply infrastructure and hardware, but also the operational cost associated with the poor households,” he said.

"Regarding the latter, we will work closely with National Treasury and municipalities to make it happen within our available resources.”

The second priority would be to diversify the country’s energy mix away from fossil fuels and particularly focus on the development of renewable energy.
South Africa has huge, untapped potential in renewable energy generation including solar, wind, and small-hydro, said Khumalo.

He continued that government intended to escalate national efforts to meet its “ambitious” renewable energy targets.

The published Renewable Energy Feed-in Tariff (Refit) would help to implement, on a larger scale, greener and diversified energy, such as wind and small hydro schemes.

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa would be encouraged to finalise the determination of the outstanding Refit for the remaining renewable energy sources.

It was also announced that the department of Energy intended to launch a green jobs initiative to stimulate both employment and awareness of environmental sustainability.

The third priority of the new department was to continue the work achieved in the energy efficiency campaign.

Khumalo described this initiative as one of the “low-hanging fruits to reap".

“We must continue to work on existing programmes, but still ensure that there is improved equity in the allocation of limited resources, while focusing on the high-load municipal centres,” said Khumalo.

"Ultimately, energy efficiency will have to be legislated. South Africans must be able to internalise energy efficiency in all their existence.”

The department would also concentrate on new generation capacity, focusing on cleaner fossil fuels as well as renewable energy.

While the nuclear energy programme had been temporarily put on hold at the end of last year, Khumalo stated that the department would continue to monitor costs and make sure that "we have our foot in the door and be ready when the opportunity presents itself".

Khumalo also addressed the much-discussed topic of the global recession. He stated that the global economic slowdown should be viewed as a short-term scenario and the energy sector needed to plan carefully to allow it to respond quickly to the needs of a growing economy.

Kumalo concluded that the department would soon embark on a consultation initiative with industry stakeholders regarding the future of the South African energy sector.

Once that consultation process had been concluded, the Department of Energy would concentrate its efforts on developing an energy roadmap for the next five years.