Ramaphosa: Mothballing of coal-fired power stations may have to wait
President Cyril Ramaphosa says the planned decommissioning of the country’s coal-fired power stations may need to be re-examined as the country battles to solve the energy crisis.
In his weekly newsletter, Ramaphosa outlined several measures the government are looking at to mitigate load shedding.
“It may be necessary to re-examine the timeframe and the process of decommissioning or mothballing of coal-fired power stations temporarily to address our electricity supply shortfall,” Ramaphosa wrote.
“The process of re-examining our timeframes is not a reversal of our position on the Just Energy Transition. Other countries have had to do the same in recent years without deviating from their long-term shift to renewable energy sources.”
Ramaphosa added that the return of units to service at Kusile and Medupi would also help to alleviate pressure on the grid.
“The country is faced with both an electricity crisis and a climate crisis, which we must tackle together. As we intensify our efforts to address the electricity shortfall, we remain committed to reducing our carbon emissions through a just transition.
“Intensive work is underway to reduce load shedding by improving the performance of Eskom’s power stations. This includes returning units at the Kusile and Medupi power stations to service on schedule, which will together add over 3,500 MW back to the grid.”
Ramaphosa says there has been an influx of private investment towards electricity generation.
“We are making real progress in adding new generation capacity to the grid, buying power from neighbouring countries, and fast-tracking new wind, solar, battery storage and gas projects. We are seeing a massive surge of private investment in electricity generation as a result of reforms we have embarked upon.
“Eskom is undertaking necessary maintenance now to ensure that planned outages can be limited during winter when demand is expected to increase.”
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