Various challenges in the South African energy sector must be addressed for wider socioeconomic advancement – for which the South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI) has developed a new strategic plan, positioning it to address key energy sector issues. SANEDI interim CEO Lethabo Manamela explains that since SANEDI was established as an agency of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy in 2011, it has been directing applied energy research and implementing energy efficiency measures in the country, working with local and international partners.
South Africa has started geological mapping at the country’s first carbon capture and storage (CCS) site, where it plans to inject vast quantities of carbon dioxide (CO2) deep underground from 2023, a senior Council for Geoscience official said. The project will be based around the town of Leandra, Mpumalanga province, in South Africa’s north east, a carbon emissions hotspot and home to several coal-fired power stations as well as Sasol’s Secunda coal-to-liquids fuel plant, the world’s largest.