Will SA ever kick its coal addiction?

Should climate idealists in South Africa prepare themselves for a slower transition to clean energy and a longer reliance on coal?

This question was posed to Eskom CEO Dan Marokane on Thursday at a sustainability conference in Cape Town, where he was interviewed by Vijay Vaitheeswaran, energy and climate innovation editor at The Economist.

“The practical story here is that coal is pretty hard to kick when you’re as addicted to it as South Africa,” Vaitheeswaran noted.

In response, Marokane emphasised that by 2030, Eskom aims to add 2 to 2.5 gigawatts of renewable energy to its energy generation portfolio, with plans to decommission several ageing coal-fired power stations.

“We embrace the need to move towards a low-emissions environment. There are clear targets in terms of our 2030 emissions goals, and we are committed to playing an active role in ensuring the country moves towards its 2050 zero target,” he notes.

Yet, South Africa finds itself transitioning within an environment with significant economic hardships, such as the communities in Mpumalanga, whose livelihoods centre on the coal-fired power stations in the province.

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Marokane conceded on a previous occasion that the 2022 closure of the Komati coal-fired power station in Mpumalanga – and the focus on renewables on the same site – was handled badly and should not be repeated.

He told Moneyweb at the time that the shutdown led to around 350 job losses, with mainly contractors affected. However, the economic impact on the local community was far worse, as each contractor supported up to four people. In addition, indirect jobs, as well as business and informal traders, were all negatively impacted.

At Thursday’s event, Marokane said that the “totality of the system” needs to be considered when decommissioning in future.

“At Komati, employees have been assigned to different operations but the society was disrupted. We have stalled the decommissioning of the other stations scheduled for between 2024 and 2027, not only because of energy security issues, but also to give ourselves time to plan and make sure there the transition has an element of justice in it.

“We need to mobilise all stakeholders, including local municipalities, national government, and the private sector, to ensure that the social fabric is taken into consideration.”

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200-plus days of no load shedding

Marokane told the audience on Thursday that, as he spoke, South Africa had had 211 days of uninterrupted power supply – a feat he attributes to the performance of Eskom’s generation fleet and a structured generation recovery plan.

This plan was “conceptualised” before his appointment in December 2023, he notes.

Marokane’s appointment followed a 10-month search for a suitable (and willing) candidate to lead South Africa’s embattled power utility following André de Ruyter’s departure in February last year.

“In its simplest form, the turnaround at Eskom focuses on prioritising the maintenance of stations that had the biggest loss of generating capacity and ensuring there are adequate human and technical resources. We have also made decision-making more linear and, importantly, we have provided leadership.”

Marokane also acknowledges that the addition of renewable energy to the national grid has eased pressure on the power system.

“On good days, we see between 5 and 6 gigawatts of renewable energy contribution. It’s positive,” he said.

“But to be able to keep the lights on, we need to get the core of our base load supply … and the picture will remain like this for the next three, four years.”

South Africa’s base load power comes largely from coal-fired power stations, but nuclear and “technologies involving small modular reactors that can be deployed across the country” are also part of the energy security strategy.

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Grid capacity

Vaitheeswaran asked Marokane if he could assure the audience that South Africa is “serious” about renewables and committed to overcoming hurdles such as limited grid capacity.

The “issue of grid connectivity” emanates from the many years of “capital starvation” within Eskom, Marokane says.

“This is a big price we pay as a country.”

The failure to invest adequately in transmission infrastructure has meant the government failed to award wind-power contracts in the last bidding round for wind-power supply, as the projects could not be connected to the grid.

Marokane says Eskom’s independent national transmission company, which has been operational since 1 July this year, will focus on the rollout of South Africa’s transmission development plan.

“[This] is to [ensure] that we can connect areas like the Western Cape, Northern Cape, and Southern Cape [which have] immense capabilities, and abilities from the renewables perspective. There’re some 3.5 gigawatts of wind potential that can be connected.”

This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.