The Cabinet has approved an electricity master plan for the country to plug a gap that has led to criticism of the failure to plan energy needs over the long term.
Elaborating on the plan at a media briefing on Thursday, Minister of Minerals and Energy Buyelwa Sonjica said that the plan, which is plainly still a long way from being worked out in detail, “is a high-level plan, and not necessarily a pronouncement of new policy”.
The master plan intends to address the need for long-term planning by first providing a critical analysis of the present situation and then creating the broad framework of interventions that are needed.
However, the only intervention that has so far emerged as a result of this process is the speeding up of demand-side management and energy efficiency — that is, persuading people to use less power.
The minister added that licensees such as Eskom and the municipalities will be required to see to the implementation of the master plan. — I-Net Bridge