CAPE TOWN, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- South Africa will soon announce the long awaited integrated resource plan (IRP), expecting to attract investment, Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe said on Thursday.
"The plan will lay the foundation for investment in power generation," Mantashe told delegates attending the fourth annual Africa Oil & Power (AOP) conference in Cape Town.
Such an investment should have the impact of lowering the cost of doing business in South Africa, he said.
"By Wednesday, I am very hopeful that the IRP would be concluded, and we will gazette it," he said.
The minister highlighted the potential investment that could come as a result of a finalized IRP, which represents a key component of South Africa's energy strategy.
With this, he invited investors to enter the South African market.
"Come to the fore, we are ready for you. Talk to us," he said.
The IRP outlines coal-fired energy supplying 46 percent of South Africa's energy mix by 2030 with further decommissioning of coal generation up until 2050. The supply of solar, hydro and wind sources is set to increase as a proportion of total generation.
The finalization of the IRP is viewd as important to confirm investor certainty.
The policy uncertainty that South Africa's energy sector is currently facing directly results in international investors looking to other markets to invest.
The three-day AOP conference kicked off in Cape Town on Wednesday with the aim of promoting the energy sector to ensure greater economic growth on the continent.
The conference was bringing together Africa's oil, gas and power leaders to facilitate key conversations on the substantial role the energy sector has in empowering other sectors and building thriving and competitive economies.
In line with the conference's theme "Make Energy Work," Mantashe stressed the importance of developing a thriving energy sector as a means to encouraging economic growth, noting that the sector is "part of an effort that is a catalyst to economic growth."
On the country's energy future, he said natural gas would be a key part of South Africa's energy mix.
Projects like the Coega special economic zone in the Eastern Cape province would be at the core of this strategy, Mantashe said.
"This ambitious project for us will be a game changer, those who are waking up to take the opportunity will actually benefit from that development. It is quite a test for us because we need to get into gas in a big way," said Mantashe.
The multi-billion-rand Coega development, located in Nelson Mandela bay, consists of 10 projects including a renewable energy components factory, a gas-to-power plant, a solar rooftop project and an oil refinery.
The gas to power project is expected to supply power from 2026.
