Delay in shutting coal plants ‘is OK’

SA’s delay in taking coal-fired power stations offline would only harm its commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050 if the plants continued to burn well into the 2030s, the head of its donor-funded green energy plan said on Tuesday.

Officials admitted privately in November that SA would miss its binding 2030 carbon emissions targets under the Paris climate agreement, as it would run eight coal-fired power plants for longer than planned.

Countries including Canada, Britain and Germany have delayed or watered down their energy transition plans.

SA is the world’s 15th-biggest emitter, according to the Global Carbon Atlas, a significant drop from previous years. This is mostly due to power shortages at Eskom. But its emissions are still much bigger than more developed economies such as Britain, Vietnam or Italy.

“If we delay well into the 2030s, we will have a problem in meeting our NDC [nationally determined contribution] commitments,” said Joanne Yawitch, head of the green energy overhaul, which Western and multilateral donors are partly funding.

WE HAVEN’T HAD ANY INDICATIONS THAT THERE IS RISK TO THE [DONOR] … FINANCING FROM DELAYS TO DECOMMISSIONING

Joanne Yawitch Head of JET IP unit

“[But] I don’t think SA is backtracked from [its climate commitments] in any way whatsoever,” she added.

Yawitch is head of the project management unit responsible for implementing the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET IP).

The country committed under the Paris deal to cut emissions to between 350-million and 420-million tonnes annually by 2030, from 442million tonnes this decade. To do this, it planned to decommission eight coal-fired power plants, six by 2030 and the remaining by 2034, but has since backed away from closing them.

“Over the last couple of years, we have certainly been on track to be below reasonably below that 420 megatons of carbon equivalent,” Yawitch said, adding that “we haven’t had any indications that there is risk to the [donor] financing” from delays to decommissioning coal plants.