The plan is to extend the life of the current power plants Photo World Economic Forum
South Africa – President Cyril Ramaphosa has called an urgent meeting to debate electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa’s plan of slowing down the decommissioning of old coal plants. South Africa is currently battling to keep the lights on and while this may help, there could be very severe consequences.
Prolonging the life of Eskom’s coal plants can be seen as going against South Africa’s just energy transition and the climate goals it committed to at the COP26 conference in 2021. It could put at risk the $8.5 billion in finance commitments from rich countries. However, according to energy expert, Crown Prince Adil Nchabeleng, this is not the case no matter what other reports claim.
“People are misleading the public when they say that extending the life of power plants is actually going against the just energy transition plan. This is a plan that we created in South Africa. That we made as a pledge and it’s not something that was cast in stone. It’s not a must. These power plants are not that old if you were to look at the historical trend of power plants across the world.”
The argument is weak given that other countries in Europe and such are actually reopening their coal power plants, said Nchabeleng.
The only issue with the plan
At this current stage, to shut down any coal power plant will be “the most reckless decision” as South Africa heavily relies on them to provide the bulk of electricity. The only issue with the plan to keep them running is where the government is going to get the money.
“Government is not committing capital. They are not putting money on the table. Instead they are saying that they are going to extend the life of these power plants and then solicitate capital from external providers. We don’t know what is the detail of those external providers who will be bringing in the money and how and under what conditions. So that’s where the sketchy part is on that plan.”
The plan to extend the power plants is also a plan to extend their power
The ANC is not in good standing with the public at the moment. With the 2024 National Elections around the corner, decommissioning any coal power plant could jeopardise their campaign, said Nchabeleng. This coupled with the fact that the call from the public is to prolong the life of power plants is why the plan is being seriously considered.
“The president has no choice. The pressure for actually retaining and returning the power plants to operation as well as extending their lifespan is actually a public call … The president doesn’t make decisions on his own. He listens to the public. That is what democracy is all about. We can’t move away from coal. It’s the most unrealistic plan ever. We have coal, we have nuclear, which is almost 2 000 megawatts and the rest is all makeshift plans. If you’re saying that we must totally shut down and follow the just energy transition plan and completely abandon the key resource we have, which is the most cheapest to produce electricity and the global energy crisis right now, it’s a disastrous move.”
According to Nchabeleng, there are no ANC members who are against this plan and to his knowledge, none of them were actually sold on the just energy transition plan.
“Most of the members of the ruling party at the energy level do not support the move away from coal. They don’t support the just energy transition plan and they’re not even interested in the COP that was signed under the Paris Accord.”
For now it seems the plan to extend the lifespan will go through. Nchabeleng believes this is the right move and just energy transition should help naturally instead of through force as what is happening now. In other news, the
To hear more from Crown Prince Adil Nchabeleng on why it is the right move to extend the coal power plants, listen to the podcast here:
