South Africa’s Energy Crisis: What is the Outlook for SA’s Energy Supply?

The Eskom crisis has emerged as the fulcrum on which the fortunes of the South African economy will pivot. Whilst we were given hope of a decisive course of action during his previous SONA address, when President Ramaphosa indicated that Eskom would be unbundled into three distinct entities, this stance seemed to soften considerably during his most recent SONA address. The announcement that government’s financial support of this failed SOE would be intensified in the short-term was somewhat concerning as throwing more money at Eskom just to keep it alive will not solve the problem and only serves to kick the can down the road.

In addition, renewable energy technologies have evolved exponentially, to the point where solar and wind power is now cheaper to produce than coal-powered energy. South Africa’s REIPP program has been plagued by uncertainty and despite the recent designation of a renewables SEZ in Atlantis, these technologies don’t seem to feature prominently in discussion around Eskom. The long-term business case for solar and wind energy is undeniable, so why do we seem to be shying away from an obvious solution?

With so much uncertainty and noise in the public domain around what is likely to happen at Eskom, it would be immensely beneficial for business leaders to be afforded a deeper understanding of critical factors affecting energy security.

Join us as we receive an update on the outlook for South Africa’s energy supply from Prof Anton Eberhard, who chairs the Eskom Sustainability Task Team.

Please note this event is open to Accelerate Cape Town members only.