- Eskom plans to replace ageing coal plants with renewables and gas.
- Western countries have committed $8.5bn to help South Africa phase out coal.
- Eskom plans to upgrade its transmission infrastructure to enable clean energy integration.
South African state utility Eskom believes that renewable energy and natural gas can help overcome the crisis that has plagued it in recent years. High debt and lack of investment has seen the utility implement power cuts over the past ten years and rely on government bailouts to remain operational. However, Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter expressed optimism that the country could attract clean energy industries, leading to jobs provision and electricity demand that will improve the country’s energy sector.
Eskom’s installed capacity currently consists of 15 coal-fired power stations, a nuclear plant, and several smaller pumped storage, hydroelectric, gas and wind plants. However, about 22GW of coal plants are nearing their end of life and would be shut down by 2035. Eskom plans to replace this capacity with gas and renewables and increase PPAs with independent power producers.
At COP26, several countries agreed to provide about $8.5 billion in funding to help the country to phase out coal. Eskom hopes to receive the bulk of that financing to aid its efforts. In addition, Eskom wants to upgrade its transmission infrastructure to adequately integrate solar and wind sources and strengthen its distribution grid to allow for increased private power generation.