Those who implement strong energy portfolios and grids timeously and effectively are going to be the biggest contributirs to the crucial just energy transition.

That is the collective viewpoint of Seriti Group CE Mike Teke and Seriti Green CEO Peter Venn, who spoke to Engineering News & Mining Weekly in a Zoom interview. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

It is Seriti Green that is building a 155 MW wind farm in Mpumalanga province, South Africa's energy heartland of South Africa, and it is Seriti Resources that will be buying that wheeled energy for use at its coal mining operations.

"We're wasting time persuading each other about whether it will be fossil fuels or renewables. It's fossil fuels and renewables, and South Africa must travel that journey," Teke emphasised.

"It's renewables and coal," said a concurring Venn. "The money's there, the willingness is there. The industry is there. What we need is policy certainty and alignment, and whatever number you wish to throw in front of us as an industry, we're ready to take it on."

The reason Seriti Resources changed from being focused on coal was to align itself with what is underway globally.

"That energy transition is critical for the entire world and for South Africa specifically.

Firstly, we want to be active in ensuring that South Africans benefit out of the change and enjoy the benefits of an energy mix, where we have coal, we have wind, we have solar, we have nuclear and other forms of energy generation.

"Secondly, for Mpumalanga province, it is imperative that when we traverse this journey, we're going to build two more new coal mines, and we're building renewable energy in the area.

"That is significant for the Mpumalanga people, because it provides infrastructure growth, economic activity, development and what we are showing actively as a business is that this just energy transition is not going to be business only, but we will be taking along a lot of stakeholders who are part of Mpumalanga as a population."

Seriti Green has become the embodiment of energy transition collaboration.

Mining Weekly: Why is it so important, particularly in South Africa, that these two energy sources become joined at the hip?

Venn: Mpumalanga is the energy heartland of South Africa, and to have a just energy transition where we leave people behind is just not acceptable. The concept of an energy transition from coal to renewables is easy, but the just part is what we are focused on. Bringing the stakeholders along with us in Mpumalanga is so important, and then to get the timing right. The country as a whole has invested significant amount of capital in transmission infrastructure over decades, and to leave that transmission infrastructure behind, if we were to transition, is crazy. We need to leverage this infrastructure. We need to be building renewables in amongst the coal mines, and if you look at the circular economy, our mine, New Denmark, is 20 km from the Seriti Green wind farm, and we're taking water from the mine, and we're repurposing the water as we build out the wind farm, so there's a whole circular economy happening within Mpumalanga, and it's important to the people of Mpumalanga.

How much of the coal that Seriti mines each year is consumed in South Africa and how much is exported?

Teke: Sixty five per cent of our coal is supplied to the power stations and 35% is exported.

To what extent will Seriti Green be able to lower the carbon footprint of Mpumalanga with the introduction of wind energy?

Venn: From a Seriti group perspective, we will almost obliterate Scope 2 emissions in the production of electricity, in that Seriti will be purchasing green electricity from the wind farm, so there is a huge reduction. But I think we need to look at it as a network across the country. Every megawatt hour that's produced abates a ton of carbon in South Africa and this project, when complete, will be 3 000 gigawatt hours. So that's a significant abatement of carbon within ...