Gravitational forces of energy transition

The focus in South Africa’s electricity sector has shifted in recent times from a debate on the future system design – particularly the role of renewable energy, gas and nuclear in the generation mix – to the poor state of governance at Eskom. However, this should not be interpreted to mean that the energy world has stopped to allow South Africa to get off. To be sure, energy and power markets globally continue to evolve, despite the best attempts of some incumbent utilities, as well as President Donald Trump’s administration, to turn back the clock. Two recent reports are particularly helpful in describing some of the characteristics of this evolution: the ‘BP Statistical Review of World Energy’ and the ‘New Energy Outlook 2017’ published by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).