Coal has a key part to play in the transition to renewable energy, the chief executive of Thungela Resources Ltd, July Ndlovu, told a GIBS online forum.
Ndlovu, who is the World Coal Association chairperson, said the “avalanche of commentary” pronouncing coal is dead is premature: “When I talk about coal, people tend to think I am a climate-change denialist. On the contrary, I recognise the risks that are associated with emissions, but I also recognise that unless we are pragmatic about the transition, we could actually cause more harm.”
“I’m a realist, firstly because we are a coal company, I’m unapologetic about that. But I’m also realistic that if we want to mitigate the effects of climate change, deploying renewables is a must-do. But these technologies can co-exist.”
Fossil fuel power generation is going to be key for powering the transition to clean energy: “Unless we produce the materials and infrastructure required, we can’t live another way,” he continued.
The baseload from fossil fuels will continue to be needed in the immediate future as the technology required to store power created by renewables is not yet commercially competitive.
“South Africa happens to be in that space, on the banks of the river, that if we make wise choices and act on them, we might actually create the happy medium of beginning to impact on climate change while taking millions out of energy poverty by providing a reliable supply of energy.”
Ndlovu said it is his organisation’s solemn duty to make sure that its assets, or natural endowments, are extracted to deliver maximum value for the benefit of employees, the country and the communities it serves. “Unless we do that the rest doesn’t matter.”
His vision for Thungela Resources in the next five years is to make it a global company by “growing from the core, and at the core we are a carbon company.”
In order to do that, “we have to have to drive our environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda, which is something we think about very hard”. The organisation has realised it will not be able to compete on the environmental aspects of ESG, but can differentiate itself on the social aspects.
“Safety, health, a shared contribution and making sure that our communities and employees feel that they're part of a business through the shared value we create together with our shareholders are the most important,” he said.
“Our simple priority is to build a long-term global mining business.”
