Pretoria - Diversifying South Africa's energy sources and affordability will be the guiding principles in the development of the Integrated Resource Plan Version 2 (IRP2), says energy Director General Nelisiwe Magubane.
"We need to plan ahead for our future electricity requirements. This exercise will ensure that our future generations have access to electricity," Magubane said at the opening plenary of a two-day consultation with stakeholders on the IRP2.
In December, Cabinet approved the plan which aims to guide government on how it will meet the country's electricity demands. The plan was formulated under the Electricity Regulation Act to give effect to national policy.
The IRP will focus on a three-year period and will have an impact on Eskom's Multi Year Price Determination (MYPD2) which was revised from an initial 45 percent to 35 percent over the next three years.
"We have reached a moment in history where we have to take bold and decisive decisions about the quantity and type of the current and future electricity infrastructure for our country," said Magubane, emphasising that the department was working with all the affected stakeholders.
Eskom which has said that the country's energy reserve margin stood at 16 percent would be involved in the IRP2 process.
The department has received over 400 responses to input parameters and fact sheets that it has sent to stakeholders.
"One of the questions that we have to answer as we develop the IRP is the critically important issue of climate change and the need to reduce South Africa's carbon footprint," said the Director General.
