By: ESI Africa

“There’s been a number of concerns raised by the market which the department has taken on board,” Audat told ESI Africa multimedia journalist Sinazo Mkoko at Enlit Africa 2025, explaining why the request for proposals document is being revised.

“The first step is to issue a revised document and shortly afterwards we will have a conference with the potential market for the gas-to-power programme. We want to make sure that the document is bankable and it attracts sufficient international markets, more importantly funding behind it.

“The reason why we put in so much effort on the gas to power programme, it is an important instrument to enable implementation of the Gas Master Plan.

“The gas-to-power [programme] provides sufficient gas demand so that the minister is then able to implement especially the infrastructure components that the gas master plan makes reference to,” said Audat.

Since work is currently underway, he didn’t want to commit to specific timelines: “At this stage safe to say that the team is working tirelessly to make sure that the document that is issued to the market is something that will attract sufficient interest, especially from the experienced international players.”

When it comes to aligning infrastructure development with the evolution of energy demand in the country, Audat says it is important for the South Africa to treat developed technologies already at commercial stage differently to technologies still being researched.

He highlights efforts to align infrastructure planning with evolving energy technologies and enhance regional grid resilience. Audat also comments on the Department addressing delays related to funding and grid access, aiming to streamline the implementation of the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) and gas-to-power projects.