JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – South Africa needs to transition into renewable energy in a way that continues to protect the country’s energy availability, Eskom chairperson Dr Mteto Nyati told the Joburg Indaba on Wednesday.

“We also have to make sure that we’re coming up with prices, with tariffs that make this country attractive to investors,” Nyati outlined during his opening address at the twelfth rendition of this key mining event, chaired by mining luminary Bernard Swanepoel. (Also watch Creamer Media’s attached video.)

Recalling that low-priced electricity was once a major magnet that attracted investment into South Africa, Nyati emphasised that a return to competitively priced power was a must.

“We need to come up with the ways and means of making sure that we get back to where we were,” he challenged, warning that failure to achieve competitive tariffs would knock the country back.

Having earlier highlighted South Africa’s significant need for talent and skills, he said major expertise is needed to achieve essential power affordability solutions.

“At the same time, we have to balance this with sustainability as we move across into renewables,” he said.

To the mining industry, he added: “Most of your products are being exported, but what kind of energy are you using to produce your products, because if you continue to use energy that is not coming out from clean sources, there’s going to be a huge penalty on your products as you sell them in other geographies.”

This challenge, he said, was something to which mining needed to give attention and “to force us, as Eskom, to make those changes that we need to make to help you to continue to be competitive in your space”.

While the need for talent and renewables was, in his view, the first two big challenges, the third concerned environmental problems really being social problems.

“They begin with people as the cause and they end with people as the victims,” he said, pointing to the need for attention to be paid to the harm done to communities.

The good thing was that erring listed companies would hear from their investors in view of investor focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) being given top priority status.

He urged that ESG should not be relegated to the sidelines but rather integrated into the strategy of mining companies.

ESG needed to be used as a source of competitive advantage, to drive innovation and have a positive impact in operational areas.

Turning back to Eskom, he posited that an ongoing approach of one-tariff-for-all should be replaced by unbundled tariffs that reflect the different components of the Eskom business, which the tariff imposed by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) was not yet ready to accommodate.

“For us to get to where we need to, we'll think of capacitating and supporting Nersa,” said Nyati, who urged the mining sector to embrace technology to uplift operational efficiency.

Regarding mineral beneficiation, he urged the industry to add value on the continent and to view some of South Africa’s challenges as great opportunities.