SA still needs coal-fired power — minister
Electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has defended plans to delay the decommissioning of coal-fired power stations, as set out in the revised power planning blueprint released last week, saying this would protect the economy against loadshedding.
Ramokgopa told the media in Johannesburg on Thursday that coal-fired power stations remained key to electricity production and were assets that had to be exploited.
“Our articulation and approach on the delayed decommissioning is an admission that the country’s economy will be decimated if we are unable to resolve load-shedding. In the short term, we want to exploit these assets, we want to sweat these assets, and we also accept that we have obligations to reduce emissions.
“The continued exploitation of these assets is making it possible for us to ensure we address and abate the relentless pressure of load-shedding and are able to protect the South African economy,” he said.
According to the 2023 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), which has been issued for public comment, power stations that were earmarked for shutdown before 2030 will be kept in operation due to the increased threat of load-shedding since 2019, when the first version of the plan was published.
Under the 2019 plan, the assumption was that Eskom’s energy availability factor (EAF) would average 75%. However, the EAF was down to 54.72% in the 2023 financial year and has negatively affected economic growth prospects.
According to the 2023 plan, the Eskom fleet produces 80% of generating capacity, and the decrease in its performance is a threat to supply and has resulted in the intensification of load-shedding.
However, the 2023 IRP has been criticised for inadequate allocation to renewable energy generation despite South Africa’s climate commitments to increase the amount of energy it draws from renewable resources.
In 2021 the country received $8bn (about R148bn) from the US, the UK and the EU to fast-track the move away from a coal baseline.
Ramokgopa said the interests of the country had to be balanced with the transition to cleaner energy generation.
“There has to be a balance between the ecological, environmental impact and also the socioeconomic impact. It is an admission that when we elaborate on the just [transition] we do not only focus on the environmental issues, but also the implications for livelihoods, incomes and economic growth.”
At a media briefing this week, the director-general of the department of mineral resources & energy, Jacob Mbele, said the government should consider keeping coal-fired plants online for as long as possible because bringing in new capacity has long lead times.
“These plants are capacity that you already have and capacity that you need to be able to provide support to the system,” he said.
The government would continue work
ing to reduce harmful emissions and comply with emissions standards, but could not risk losing up to 30,000MW generated from coal overnight, he said.
“If we do not deal with this issue, and in addition to the challenges that we have with the performance of our power plants, we stand to lose between 15,000MW and 30,000MW on the basis that capacity is not compliant with the air quality requirements.”
Happy Khambule, head of environment and energy at Business Unity South Africa, said the plan showed no understanding of the shift away from central planning controlled by a vertically integrated monopoly, Eskom, towards an open market with a systems operator determining market needs.
It ignored changes outlined in the Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill now before parliament, he said.
“It’s still assuming that the old vertically integrated monopoly decision-making and mandating process for investments and energy decisions will continue, whereas we’re going into an open market where we will have a system market operator determining what the market needs.” The draft IRP 2023 does not allow for that.
“We’re going to put pressure on the [department] to reconsider the approach to integrated resource planning so it aligns with the new market design of the electricity system. We’re going to be very clear about it, because as it stands the IRP 2023 curtails market participation on the public procurement side of things. That needs to change,” Khambule said.