In order to support the objectives of the Operation Phakisa Oceans Economy Oil and Gas Lab held in 2014, the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), Department of Energy (DoE) and the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE), as well as iGas, Eskom and Transnet, committed to jointly lead an initiative to streamline and integrate a regulatory process to facilitate the efficient and effective development of a phased gas pipeline network in the country while ensuring sustainable development. It was agreed that in order to achieve this streamlined and efficient authorisation process, a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) methodology would be used to identify and pre- assess suitable gas routing corridors and expand the identified electricity grid infrastructure (EGI) power corridors. Impact Economix conducted the specialised economic opportunity analysis as an input into the overall Strategic Environmenta Assessment process. This involved 1. Identifying the location of current or most likely bulk users of natural gas in South Africa; 2. Identifying the potential benefits that could be achieved should natural gas be available to the selected bulk users; 3. Undertaking an opportunities analysis and determining the overall economic benefits (including direct and indirect benefits) of having gas in the South African energy mix based on case studies. The Natural Gas Corridor SEA project web site contains relevant documents at https://gasnetwork.csir.co.za/faqs/#FAQ_04 and https://gasnetwork.csir.co.za/ and the draft SEA gas corridor report released for public comment in May 2019 are available here: https://gasnetwork.csir.co.za/resources/gas-pipeline-sea-draft-sea-report/
