South Africa urgently seeking gas as energy transition stalls

South Africa’s power sector plans envisage a big role for gas, but first the country needs to find the feedstock

South Africa is on the hunt for gas supply to realise its ambitions to shift its power sector from one based almost entirely on heavily polluting coal to a cleaner set-up relying largely on renewable energy supported by gas. The country has few producing gas assets, but energy minister Jeff Radebe believes that Africa has "more than enough" to cater for the continent's growing energy demand. The minister released details in late August of a long-awaited electricity plan, which sets the parameters for efforts to cater for South Africa's electricity demand to 2030, while reducing carbon emissions—the country is Africa's largest carbon emitter and has higher emissions levels than either China o