In a recent address, Anders Lindberg, President, Wärtsilä Energy and EVP, Wärtsilä Corporation, underscored the urgent need for Southern Africa to embrace flexible energy systems to expedite its transition to renewable energy.
Anders Lindberg, President, Wärtsilä Energy, speaking at the forum.
Speaking at Wärtsilä’s Southern Africa Energy Transition Forum held in Johannesburg last week, Lindberg emphasised the importance of flexibility in overcoming the challenges posed by the region's energy landscape and achieving sustainable and reliable power generation.
"The world is moving towards a sustainable energy future," Lindberg said. "Energy should be the beating heart of our society. But here in South Africa and neighbouring countries, energy is causing unnecessary issues and complications for the society it should serve."
He highlighted the power struggles in the region, reinforcing the need for sustainable and reliable power generation. "With the energy transition accelerating, renewable power generation will dominate our future energy systems. We must adapt our grids to be able to react quickly to changes in supply and demand, and to deliver clean and reliable power whenever and wherever it is needed."
He said integrating flexibility into the energy infrastructure is essential, as renewables alone are insufficient to achieve net-zero goals. Lindberg referenced Wärtsilä's power system modelling, demonstrating that a combination of renewable generation and flexible assets could decarbonise the power system in South Africa significantly.
He also took the opportunity to commend the South African government's initiatives in moving towards the energy transition, including the introduction of tenders as part of the Risk Mitigation and Gas IPP Procurement Programmes, as well as the recently gazetted Gas Master Plan.
He concluded his address with a call to action, urging stakeholders to collaborate in designing flexible, ‘future-proof’ energy systems. "At Wärtsilä we envision a 100% renewable energy future," Lindberg said. "A future where renewables are the main source of power, supported by energy storage and flexible balancing gas engine power plants eventually running on sustainable fuels."
Wärtsilä’s Southern Africa Energy Transition Forum was hosted together with HE Ms Anne Lammila, Ambassador of Finland to South Africa. Other key speakers on the day included Thabang Audat, Chief Director Planning, Department of Mineral Resources & Energy, about the draft Gas Master Plan for South Africa, as well as Jaco Human, Executive Officer of the Industrial Gas Users Association of Southern Africa, about the status of the regional gas sector and meeting the demand for gas-to-power in the country.
For more information visit: www.wartsila.com/energy