South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) plans to develop a gas-to-power program to stimulate the gas market for grid resilience, announced Thabang Audat, Chief Director: Planning, DMRE, in Cape Town this week.
The DMRE will incorporate feedback from industry and the public on the Gas Master Plan draft to develop the program.
“We have seen many countries achieve grid resilience and GDP growth on the back of gas exploitation and we want to achieve that,” stated Audat, adding, “We believe there is a starting point and ours is the Gas Master Plan which will lead us into the gas-to-power program and eventually a gas economy.”
South Africa imports 85% of its gas and sources 15% domestically, according to Audat.
The Gas Master Plan will enhance supply and expand infrastructure while the gas-to-power program will boost power generation’s share in the country’s gas sector from the current 5% for grid stability. Industrial processing account for 80% of South Africa’s gas consumption, according to Audat, while other sectors account for 15%.
“Once we implement the gas-to-power program, we will start to see other industries such as diesel power stations converting to gas. From there, we will start to introduce more technologies which are low-carbon, that is how we will ensure energy security and ultimately energy decarbonization,” reiterated Audat.
Supporting Audat’s notion on the role of the gas-to-power program in enhancing grid security, Hendrik Malan, CEO of market intelligence firm Frost & Sullivan, stated “If we want to balance the grid, renewables won’t do that alone. Gas will provide baseload.”
Wayne Glossop, Development Director, GLOSSOP, added “If we don’t develop gas now, we are going back into massive loadshedding post-2025 when the decommissioning of coal plants kickstarts.”
