‘There is hard work ahead to transition to renewables’ - Energy Council of SA

Africa Melane speaks with James Mackay, CEO of the Energy Council of South Africa.

Listen to the interview in the audio below.

In order to meet global climate goals, we need to transition away from fossil fuels to cleaner energy sources.

Renewable energy has a number of benefits for the country, including reducing our carbon footprint and creating job opportunities.

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Yet, the shift towards renewables in South Africa has been very slow.

According to Mackay, we were a leader in renewable energies among developing countries between 2010 and 2016.

However, this was offset by state capture, the pandemic, and loadshedding.

Despite these struggles, he believes we are on the right track to move forward.

Mackay says separating electricity and mineral resources into separate departments will help the transition to renewables.

“We have a lot of complexity and hard work ahead of us in the energy sector.”

- James Mackay, CEO of the Energy Council of South Africa

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.