South Africa faces a shortage of energy system modelling expertise at a critical time when we must make complex and important choices in our Energy Transition that will impact our economy, industry and society. This can largely be attributed to a lack of technical capacity but also due to costly modelling and data platforms, limited collaborations and opaque data sharing practices.
Key factors contributing to South Africa’s lack of technical capacity include:
- Educational gaps: The rapid breakthroughs in clean technology and renewable energy have outpaced traditional energy education in South Africa.
- Lack of experience: Given that the renewable energy industry is relatively new in South Africa, there is a dearth of real-world experience in specific skills
- Socioeconomic factors: The energy transition requires not only technical skills but also supportive roles in policy development, legal frameworks, and community engagement. These areas are often underdeveloped, impacting the overall capacity to develop and manage energy modelling projects effectively
Energy Data & Modelling South Africa (EDMSA) was established by the Energy Council of South Africa as part of its Energy Transition Roadmap work aimed at supporting a thriving sector to meet the country’s climate and just transition commitments.
EDMSA is a Plexos Cloud-based multi-stakeholder platform for modelling and data management. Dr. Bonani Seteni, Snr Manager at Energy Council will be overseeing the platform, which aims to support national capacity building, collaboration, and openness in data sourcing and sharing amongst stakeholders involved in the energy sector.
Over 300 participants from civil society, academia, labour, the private sector, and government registered for the EDMSA launch yesterday. James Mackay, CEO of the Energy Council emphasised that the platform aims to be independent and encourage all views and will not aim to establish a single position. The value will be in the ability to factually compare and motivate multiple views.
Dr. Bonani Seteni highlighted that EDMSA is not a political platform, but an opportunity to influence discussions in support of national priorities without criticising any models or government policy processes.
As part of the panellist during the launch Prof Grove Steyn, the Managing Director of Meridian Economics stated that “building a vibrant modelling community that has access to shared data and knowledge on how to implement modelling would be
valuable” for South Africa and its just transition commitments.
Anyone interested in participating in EDMSA, or wanting to receive communication on EDMSA activities please register on the Energy Council website.
https://www.energycouncil.org.za/about/edmsa/
