Ramokgopa: Updated IRP to make more use of solar, wind, and gas

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said the updated Integrated Resource Plan will make use of more solar, wind and gas to ensure there is enough reliable power by 2030.

At present, most of the country’s electricity comes from Eskom, which produces 51,000 megawatts, but with the new plan, Ramokgopa said his department will ensure additional megawatts were sourced from diverse energy technologies.

Ramokgopa was speaking at a briefing in Pretoria, where he unveiled the new plan, an update of the 2019 version.

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The electricity minister said his responsibility is to ensure the country was to rid of load shedding for good.

The new integrated resource plan sets targets to be met by 2030, starting with the addition of 11, 000 megawatts from solar power.

This will see solar contributing 20% more to the national grid.

He said more wind turbines would be built to add another 15% to the energy mix.

Ramokgopa added that special equipment would also be needed to generate power through gas.

"The procurement is very tight given the long times of this equipment and given the fact that you need to contract, you need to secure the molecules and depending on the solution, the regasification facilities," said Ramokgopa.

He said batteries and storage units will also be developed to store the additional energy supply.