Comparative practices of Just Energy Transition from coal to hydrogen energy in South Africa and Brazil

Abstract

The climate imperative to leapfrog from coal to clean energy has been made clear over the past years at the various UN Climate Change conferences. In 2021, South Africa not only confirmed that hydrogen as a green energy is critical for decarbonizing the planet, but announced the first Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) South Africa with its Western partners. However, successful implementation of South Africa's Just Energy Transition (JET) Framework raises key questions, such as its governance capacity to implement government policies, and its history of dysfunctional long-term planning as evidenced by load shedding, which is a result of poor foresight. Brazil serves as a relevant comparative to South Africa given that they are both emerging countries, both engaged in global coal production, and have both established an interest in hydrogen energy over a decade ago. However, unlike South Africa, Brazil is currently a fossil free nation and has effectively localized green energy. The purpose of this comparative analysis is to, therefore, examine Brazilian best practices of energy transition for consideration by the South African government.