An informal settlement in Komati is seen with the Komati Power Station, operated by Eskom, in the background on 23 March 2023. In October 2022 the power station was decommissioned as it reached the end of its operating life. This has left the surrounding community struggling as most were employed at the plant. Photo: Michel Bega/The Citizen
Eskom has issued a tender to find a service provider to lead the Komati Power Station’s socio-economic development plan, which will help with the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
Eskom decommissioned the Mpumalanga-based power station in October last year, after six decades of providing electricity to South Africans from coal.
The decommissioning was part of Eskom’s Just Energy Transition Strategy, which aims to transition to lower-carbon technologies in a way that is fair and sustainable.
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The remaining employees of Komati Power Station were expected to take part in the Komati Repowering and Repurposing project.
In a statement on Sunday, Eskom said it would manage and implement mitigation measures to address the socio-economic impacts of the shutdown of the fossil-fired generating units at the power station, which had been operational since 1961.
Eskom said the repowering and repurposing of Komati will be funded through a concessional loan facility from the World Bank.
The World Bank granted Eskom a R9 billion loan last year to repurpose the Komati Power Station. The loan will be used to create a training center to retrain workers at Komati and surrounding areas for jobs in the renewable energy sector.
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“The loan facility broadly covers the decommissioning, repurposing and repowering of the station and critical elements of the Just Energy Transition to provide a second life to the power station.
“This includes the establishment of an Agrivoltaics test facility, a containerised microgrid assembly and manufacturing facility, a training centre for employee and community members, and importantly a community upliftment programme that this tender seeks to address.”
The project will be for a duration of approximately five years and interested service providers are urged to review the request for expression of interest (EOI) document on the Eskom Tender Bulletin and respond accordingly.
The project is expected to last approximately five years. Interested service providers are encouraged to review the expression of interest (EOI) document on the Eskom Tender Bulletin and submit their proposals accordingly.
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