India’s lessons in energy security applicable to Africa Power Minister Khattar

Johannesburg, Nov 28 (PTI) India’s lessons in becoming self-sufficient in energy can be useful to other countries, Union Minister for Power Manohar Lal Khattar said on Thursday at the first energy conference here co-hosted by the Consulate General of India and the Wits Business School.
     Titled the ‘Matla-Urja Energy Conference, (‘matla’ is Sesotho for ‘strength’ and ‘urja’ is energy in Hindi), over 200 delegates shared ideas for cooperative efforts in the energy sector.
     “This marks a significant milestone as the first country-specific conference undertaken in South Africa, underscoring the strong partnership between India and South Africa,” Khattar said via video link from India in his opening remarks.
     “This conference reflects the growing cooperation between the two countries in the energy sector,” he said.
     “Access to reliable energy is a fundamental aspect of modern life, yet studies report that across Africa, around 600 million people still lack this essential service and access to energy remains a significant issue.
     “While each country follows its unique path to achieve energy security, many of the lessons learned by India are broadly applicable. India has made significant progress in the last decade in achieving energy security and transitioning to green energy and lessons learned from this journey are universally relevant and applicable,” Khattar said.
     The minister said he was confident that the energy conference would provide a platform for Indian and South African participants to share knowledge, engage in meaningful discussions, identify areas for collaboration and explore mutual opportunities.
     “Indian participants from both the public and private sectors bring valuable experience to the table. The Government of India is fully committed to supporting joint efforts in achieving universal energy access,” Khattar concluded.
     His South African counterpart, Minister of Electricity and Energy Kgosientso Ramokgopa, outlined the steps that had been taken after President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed him to address the massive electricity disruptions that last year saw areas of the country with power for only a few hours a day.
     Ramokgopa said South Africa had now experienced 200 days without load-shedding, the longest period in many years after steps were taken to avoid a total blackout.
     High Commissioner for India Prabhat Kumar explained how India had also been through a similar situation earlier but had triumphed over it to now being an exporter of power.
     “We had blackouts and load-shedding. Only the major cities were exempted, but in the last ten years, we have overcome that. India became a single grid in December 2013. We had a slogan – ‘One Nation, One Grid. That means that power can be generated anywhere and transmitted to any part of our country,” Kumar said, adding that by 2019, every village and every household had electricity.
     “With renewable power also now available, India has surplus power to export. It is not only able to meet its own needs but is also able to sell power to neighbouring countries like Bangladesh and Nepal. We are also looking at underwater connectivity with Sri Lanka in the long run,” Kumar said as he detailed India’s plans for renewable energy, especially solar power, through partnerships with the private sector.
     Turning to the global situation and its impact on India and South Africa, Kumar said oil and gas “have always been political commodities".
     "This is also apparent in the relations between India and South Africa. We buy coal from (South Africa) in big quantities and we supply refined petroleum in big quantities because we have surpluses of refined petroleum," he said.
     Kumar said India was looking towards Africa to secure supplies of minerals.
     “Companies from India are ready to invest in minerals that are required for the new technologies of renewables like solar panels or wind hydrogen. We have had sessions with the governments (of both South Africa and India) and investors are ready to come to South Africa in this area,” he said.
     Kumar said India has already achieved a situation where 15 per cent of ethanol is blended with petrol, with a target of 20 per cent by next year.
     “This not only saves money but also helps farmers and producers of ethanol. Sugar farmers especially are benefiting, and this is a lesson which can be brought to South Africa,” he said.
     The conference was preceded by a day-long academic conference in which leaders from both India and South Africa discussed options for an efficient energy mix, including the envisaged role of oil and gas in Just Energy Transition; energy modelling trends; and skills and capacity development for Just Energy Transition.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)