Solar and wind are fast taking over as energy leaders, says Anton Eberhard, emeritus professor in the Power Futures Lab at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business.
Anton Eberhard, emeritus professor in the Power Futures Lab at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business – an everyman when it comes to energy activism – reminded us this week that the visionary fairy tale we thought was a bit dotty at the time may not be so far off the mark after all.
The frustration, he explains, is the reluctance of key players in the ruling party to embrace this radical energy transition. It has to do with a number of things – “political ideology, vainly believing Eskom can still be an instrument of a developmental state when plainly it is not, suspicion of the private sector, personal gain, corruption, criminal syndicates. And it’s costing the country dearly.
Eskom electricity prices have nearly trebled in 10 years. In 2014, a kWh tariff was 67.9 cents. The tariff now is R1.86 and from April it will rise to R2.01. The less electricity consumers use, the more Eskom needs the price to go up to earn sufficient revenue. A pack-for-Perth scenario? But, and thank goodness there is a but, there is light at the end of this long, dark tunnel.appears at last to be taking shape, says Eberhard, who chaired Cyril Ramaphosa’s Eskom Sustainability Task Team in 2018/19 – 20 years after the country’s Energy Policy White Paper was first mooted.