- The South African gas master plan, which aims to reduce the country’s reliance on ageing, is nearing completion.
- The plan will be released before the end of December.
South Africa has completed its Master Gas Plan market. This is part of its overall strategy to reduce carbon emissions and alleviate the ongoing power outages in the country. The plan has undergone repeated delays and is ready for scrutiny by the cabinet before being made public.
South Africa, Africa’s most developed economy, is pushing forward with its efforts. To diversify its energy mix away from reliance on ageing and polluting coal-fired power plants. The country has significant offshore and offshore gas resources. It estimates putting them at over 60 trillion cubic feet (tcf) offshore and a further 200 tcf onshore.
The failure to develop a Master Plan over the last decade has created regulatory uncertainty in the country. However, South Africa is now taking steps to address this issue. One of the key measures is developing a well-defined plan. That balances the demand and supply of natural gas in the country until 2050.
According to Jacob Mbele, the chief director at the DMRE, the final version of the Master Plan is now ready. It will submitted to the cabinet for public comment. The plan uses three scenarios. Low, medium, and high – consider that South Africa will face an imminent gas shortage from 2026. Due to the drying up of Sasol fields in Mozambique. The plan also states that gas-to-power projects will dominate gas uptake in the country. It looks to re-purpose decommissioned coal-fired plants to run on gas.
The Master Plan would be released to the public before the end of December. With its implementation, South Africa hopes to address the ongoing power outages. By reducing reliance on coal while also reducing harmful emissions from the continent’s top polluters.