Call for clarity on energy plan
The draft new energy plan published by the department of mineral resources & energy early in January needs to clarify proposals around delaying the shutdown of Eskom’s coal-fired power stations.
That is the view of SA National Energy Development Institute (Sanedi) CEO Titus Mathe.
Mathe, in a preliminary view on the draft Integrated Resources Plan (IRP) 2023, said Eskom’s shutdown plan for endof-life power stations is left open-ended.
“[The plan gives] limited information regarding units or power stations to be considered for running beyond 50 years life. It is left up to Eskom to decide based on economic reasons. Eskom is not a supplier of last resort, but rather the state through the department of mineral resources & energy is the supplier of last resort. Therefore Eskom must be given direction regarding shutdown dates,” Mathe said.
Ideally, he said, no coal-fired power plants should shut down between 2024 and 2030.
The scenarios presented in the draft IRP 2023, both for the period up to 2030 and beyond to 2050, assume a delayed shutdown plan of 13,000MW being decommissioned by 2034 instead of 15,000MW (as previously planned), with no decommissioning between 2035 and 2045.
The draft IRP 2023, which will replace the 2019 version of the plan, also does not adequately address the cost implications of running the plants beyond their expected life or how extending the life of these stations will affect Eskom’s compliance with minimum emissions standards, Mathe said.
“The draft IRP must explicitly indicate which power stations [have been identified for life extension] and what the cost will be to fix and run them for the proposed period of life extension. This should then be compared to the cost of unserved energy to the SA economy.”
While commending large parts of the plan, Mathe said these and other gaps will have to be addressed before finalising the plan.
Environmental justice organisations have written to the department of mineral resources & energy to request that the deadline to submit written comment on the draft IRP 2023 be extended by two months from February 23 to April 23.
The Life After Coal Campaign, made up of the Centre for Environmental Rights, ground-Work and Earthlife Africa, said in a letter to director-general Jacob Mbele that while the department has released relevant economic, technology cost and other assumptions upon which the draft IRP was based, this information does not include key information such as the adequate exploration of costs and price comparisons.
“Without this and other information upon which the IRP was based, it is not possible to analyse, understand and comment on the proposals, outputs and conclusions of the draft IRP in a meaningful way,” the organisations said.
The department’s timeline for deliberation on the draft plan, which wants to see the IRP 2023 finalised by the end of May, does not make provision for public hearings where citizens can make oral presentations and submissions. The department should, according to the Life After Coal Campaign, facilitate a comprehensive series of public engagements.
“The current limited public participation process being conducted by the department will systematically exclude very significant parts of the public from the consultation process and will raise concerns of a lack of will to engage seriously with stakeholders and the public on the far-reaching matters covered by the draft IRP,” the organisations said.