Energy & Utilities

Ensuring that the economy is well served by South Africa’s energy resources has become one of the government’s overriding concerns. Coal deposits are South Africa’s primary energy resource, with reserves estimated at 30.16bn tonnes as of the end of 2011. Due to an electricity deficit, the government has commissioned two coal-fired power stations, but even as new capacity is added, demand continues to rise, and this “moving target” characteristic of the electricity deficit will exercise the minds of government planners for years to come. The country’s oil reserves are modest, but the presence of large deposits of shale in the Karoo Basin is generating significant interest. The country’s reserves of uranium are estimated to be 295,000 tonnes, or 5% of the world’s total, and the government identified nuclear energy as a key part of the country’s energy mix. This chapter contains an interview with Brian Dames, Chief Executive Officer, Eskom.