Department set to unveil Integrated Resource Plan — minister
The Department of Energy is now ready to publish the longawaited Integrated Resource Plan, which was approved by Cabinet in December, Energy Minister David Mahlobo said in Parliament on Tuesday.
He said in December that the release of the revised Integrated Resource Plan was imminent, but this did not materialise. A revised draft of the plan was released for public comment about a year ago, after which it was revised into a final plan, which was adopted by Cabinet.
The plan determines the energy mix for the next 20 years and crucially will identify if and how much new nuclear energy will be required.
The draft plan determined that new nuclear energy would not be required before 2035 but there were fears that the final plan altered this in order to fulfil former president Jacob Zuma’s determination to initiate a new nuclear build programme.
Mahlobo told members of Parliament’s energy portfolio committee that because of the state of the economy energy demand in the final Integrated Resource Plan had been revised downwards. He said the plan was not policy but a resource plan and the department had not yet decided to initiate any major projects to implement the plan.
“If we are to proceed with solutions proposed in the Integrated Resource Plan, we will need to have a business plan,” he said.
The minister said that no deals on nuclear or anything else had been struck and would not happen without a plan.
Deputy Energy Minister Thembisile Majola told MPs that the submission by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) on the Integrated Resource Plan had been overtaken because its projection for energy demand had not materialised.
She said that in its engagements with the department the CSIR had had to withdraw its studies because of this.
Her comment was in response to a question by DA energy spokesman Gavin Davis, who wanted to know whether the Department of Energy had considered the CSIR and Eskom submissions when it had finalised the Integrated Resource Plan.
Davis said that the CSIR did not favour nuclear, concluding that the least-cost option for energy supply was renewables and gas.
Mahlobo said that in the next few days he would engage with credit ratings agencies over the situation at Eskom. The minister said the government would have to have a “serious discussion” over the future of the utility. He would also be meeting with Eskom shortly on the renewable energy programme.
Davis called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to remove Mahlobo from his Cabinet as soon as possible.
“This will open the door to reconsidering the Integrated Resource Plan approved by Zuma’s Cabinet and shut the door on the corrupt nuclear deal once and for all.
“It is quite clear that the ‘new dawn’ promised by Ramaphosa cannot proceed with Mahlobo in his Cabinet,” Davis said.
A REVISED DRAFT OF THE PLAN WAS RELEASED FOR PUBLIC COMMENT ABOUT A YEAR AGO THE DEPARTMENT HAD NOT YET DECIDED TO INITIATE ANY PROJECTS TO IMPLEMENT THE PLAN