South Africa is interested in acquiring knowledge and experience in the energy sector from other BRICS countries, including Russia, according to South African Vice President Paul Mashatile.
"We are especially eager to learn from Russia's strategies for managing a vast transmission network and its progress in nuclear energy," he said at the BRICS New Development Bank session in Cape Town.
He added that "the aim is to connect new generation capacity to the grid, to unlock renewable energy potential in the Northern, Eastern, and Western Cape provinces."
"Specifically, one of the lessons we are learning from one of the BRICS Member Nations is that they have invested in the creation of new cities as a method to eradicate poverty. We are of the same opinion that it is imperative to allocate resources towards the construction of new cities in Africa in order to alter the spatial perspective of our cities," Mashatile explained.
He emphasized initiatives to increase the proportion of natural gas in South Africa's energy mix, which thermal power plants currently dominate.