It is vital that South Africa diversifies its energy mix to end energy poverty, and liquified petroleum gas (LPG) has a role to play in this, with it presenting the potential to provide a cleaner alternative to coal and biomass for cooking and heat.

However, for LPG to realise its full potential and capitalising on this gap, collaboration between the private and public sector is pivotal, as is regional collaboration with the rest of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region and with the rest of the continent.

Further, the region stands to benefit from learnings from other countries, such as India, that have successfully augmented LPG use.

This was highlighted by speakers during the second day of the SADC – India LPG Summit, being held this week in Johannesburg.

Delivering the keynote address, Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe pointed out that a considerable number of people on the continent are still without access to energy, and have to resort to using biomass, wood and paraffin for heating and cooking.

He added that this is a global challenge that disproportionately affects the poorest regions, which lack access to clean cooking facilities.

Mantashe posited that there was a gap here for the LPG market, noting there was potential to capitalise on the about 600-million people in Africa that lacked access to electricity.  

Mantashe emphasised that regional integration was imperative to achieving energy access, adding that, for example, South Africa could capitalise on the gas deposits of Mozambique.

He also noted that sub-Saharan Africa’s consumption of LPG was lagging, especially compared with its counterparts in North Africa, and called for this to be improved.

Mantashe pointed out that India also offered a point of learning in how to undertake this. Other speakers outlined that the country had similarly lagged with this at the onset, but through various initiatives, including government incentivisiation and collaboration with State-owned entities, had been able to bolster consumption, especially over the past two years.

Mantashe emphasised that there was no better time for the SADC region to expand its LPG use, as this would increase access to energy, while also bolstering jobs. 

However, this was not without its challenges. Mantashe averred that there was considerable resistance in South Africa to using gas, despite the fact that many European countries had defined this, and nuclear, as part of the green energy transition.

He said that using gas instead of coal had the potential to cut emissions in half, adding that this was an important facet of the country’s green energy transition, which is a “journey rather than an event”.

Other challenges identified by speakers also included the perception that LPG was unsafe, with many people wary of bringing cylinders into their homes, and they called for this to be addressed.

There are also safety and logistical challenges around storage of LPG, with theft a concern, and the region not having the requisite storage capacity and infrastructure.

Another challenge for South Africa was that it was reliant on imports of LPG, with a speaker pointing out that the country had lost about half of its refining capacity. This also impacted prices.

Mantashe therefore called for the country’s LPG market to be strengthened, made more resilient and to then start unlocking growth.

He emphasised that this would be catalysed by significant investments in key infrastructure, and the private and public sectors working together to achieve this and unlock bottlenecks.

Suggestions from other speakers included the development of an SADC LPG association; as well as launches of Women in LPG chapters in each country to ensure the sustainability of the sector.