Africa Oil and Power Ministers State Companies to lead National Energy Investment Drive

By Abdul Rahman Suagibu –

Africa Oil & Power
Photo Credit: Linkedin

NEW AFRICA BUSINESS NEWS, Freetown, Sierra Leone- African Oil and Power (AOP) 2019 conference is hosted in partnership with the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the South African Oil and Gas Alliance and will guest speakers from state – owned enterprises CEF Group, SANEDI, petro SA, NERSA, IGas and PASA.

The AOP 2019 Conference and Exhibition will stage at the CTICC 1 in Cape Town – South Africa from 9- 11 October.

Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy of South Africa and Deputy Minister – Bravelile Hongwa will join energy industry leaders from Senegal, Angola, Lesotho and South Sudan on stage.

The focal point of the annual conference will be South Africa’s rush as an investment destination across the energy value chain. Trending a landmark distance discovery in February this year, multiple gas agreements and a record setting number of IPP projects online – Africa’s biggest energy consumer is a flashpoint for major project finance activity this year. AOP 2019, gears to promote opportunities for investment and encourage intra-Africa cooperation across the oil, gas and power sectors; through the theme # Make Energy Work.

The Topics to be discussed are bordering on the future of gas in Africa’s energy mix, exploration and production, the role renewable energy in closing the power gap and project financing with a special focus on the developments in South Africa’s energy sector. AOP 2019 will calculate light on the countries exploration and production prospects, the evaluation of the power sector – specifically in the Kwa Zulu Natal and Northern Cape Provinces – and impact the country’s energy strategies expressed in the draft Integrated Resource Plan (IRP).

The draft TRP suggests implementing 46% coal-generated power 16% gas, 15% wind, 10% solar PV, 6% hydro, 4% pumped storage, 2.5% nuclear and 1% concentrated solar power and plans to supply an estimated 20,000 MW of the additional 29,000 MW electricity, the country needs by 2030.

Albeit the IRP remains to be finalized, the country is already seeing moves by public and private sector actors towards some of the plans expressed in the draft IRP.

On its shift towards clean power, the Renewable Energy Independent power Producer Procurement Program (REIPPP) will continue to be instrumental in the country diversifying its energy mix, having already brought on line 1021PP projects from the four bid windows and more than $17.5 billion in investments. A prime example of an initiative making energy work, the REIPPPP has created over 38,000 jobs and contributed generously to the national grid through project including the country’s largest concentrated solar IPP project, the 100MW Kathu Solar Park in the Northern Cape, the 135.8MW Cookhouse Wind Farm in the Eastern Cape and the 135.5MW Gounda Wind Farm in the Western Cape.

Determined to find an energy solution that will meet the country’s needs, Minister Mantashe told members of Parliament in July to this year that; the IRP would be finalized by September and explained that “It is a summary of what we must do and gives us a framework to our approach to energy. We can’t lobby for any technology over the other. Our preoccupation is energy supply and security”.

In 2018, the AOP conference featured the participation of Kare’n Breytembach, South Africa’s former Head of Department of Energy’s Independent Power Producer Office and Hon. Jeff Radebe, South Africa’s Former Minister of Energy.

For New Africa Business News Abdul Rahman Suagibu Reports,  Africa Correspondent

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