Is South Africa heading to a gas-powered future?
The ambitious Integrated Resource Plan may struggle to convince investors and overcome vested interests. The reality could include a far greater dependence on gas than envisaged
The South African energy sector is in desperate need of investment and reform—with state power utility Eskom as its emblematic, dysfunctional centerpiece—while potentially transformative discoveries await development. South Africa has a near-complete set of natural resources to exploit, from coal— which it already amply does—to recent vast discoveries of offshore gas and liquids, largely untapped solar and wind potential and possibly even unconventional hydrocarbon resource in its vast Karoo semi-desert. The first IRP update in more than a decade contains plans for coal, gas and renewables, and even a new generation of modular nuclear power plants. South Africa is more than 70pc reliant on c
Also in this section
9 January 2026
The Latin American producer’s crude prospects rely on a multi-pronged approach where even the relatively easy wins will take considerable time, effort and cost
9 January 2026
While many forecasters are reasserting the importance of oil and gas, petrostates should be under no illusion things are changing, and faster than they might think
8 January 2026
Indonesia and Malaysia are at the dawn of breathtaking digital capabilities. Their energy infrastructure must keep up with their ambitions
8 January 2026
The next five years will be critical for the North Sea, and it will be policy not geology that will decide the basin’s future
