Eskom has learnt from the mistakes made in the decommissioning of the Komati power station and is already preparing in advance the projects which will cater for workers, communities and contractors when the Hendrina, Camden, Arnot, Kriel and Grootvlei power stations are decommissioned in 2030.
The mistake with the Komati decommissioning was that the just energy transition (JET) projects and their funding were not prepared in advance, leaving a hiatus. The Komati renewable energy redevelopment project only began disbursing funds in mid-2023, nearly a year after the power station was closed down.
Eskom’s JET strategy aims to provide a second life to communities around power stations and to reskill workers. It is part of a broader national JET to transition SA’s economy from coal to cleaner energy sources. This initially garnered the support of $8.5bn from the Just Energy Transition Partnership involving a number of countries, including $1bn from the US but the US has withdrawn from the programme.
Eskom head of generation Bheki Khumalo told parliament’s electricity and energy committee in a briefing last week that a decision had been taken to decouple the JET strategy from the station shutdowns. By 2030 tangible projects should already be under way. Different forms of energy generation such as renewables, gas or clean coal would be introduced at these power stations.
However, the power utility’s JET projects are not limited to the power stations that will be closed down
Eskom group executive for renewables and the JET programme Rivoningo Mnisi said the JET programme offered a huge opportunity to give the power stations a second life. Funding for projects at Hendrina, Camden and Grootvlei were at an advanced stage.
Electricity & energy minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said in a written reply to a parliamentary question by IFP MP Nompumelelo Mhlongo that Eskom acknowledged that its planning for repurposing and repowering Komati should have begun earlier and that there should have been economic activity at the plant before the last production unit stopped operation in 2022.
“The importance of sequencing and securing funding early are two key lessons learnt from Komati that have already been implemented at other sites earmarked for repurposing,” the minister said.
“The JET strategies for Camden, Grootvlei, Hendrina, Kriel and Arnot power stations are approved, and project development for repowering and repurposing those stations is under way,” Ramokgopa said.
“Key lessons learnt from the Komati experience continue to inform Eskom’s plans and strategies around JET.”
Ramokgopa noted that present climate finance spend was skewed towards mitigation, with adaptation finance lagging behind. Economic diversification to reindustrialise the economy in Mpumalanga, as well as the adoption of climate-smart agriculture, was key to delivering a just transition.
“Eskom’s decision to continue running some power plants until 2030 that were earmarked for shutdown a lot sooner, and to decouple station operations from its JET initiatives, allows time and space to implement projects like the construction of large-scale renewables in the form of solar PV [photovoltaic], wind, battery energy storage systems, gas where available, biogas, for repowering, as well as many projects for reindustrialisation such as copper recycling and beneficiation, manufacturing of personal protective equipment, steel fabrication and many more.
“These will help ensure that towns such as Komati are not permanently economically depressed.”
Ramokgopa said Eskom expected to award the contract for the construction of a battery energy storage system in quarter four of 2025 and for the construction of a solar photovoltaic plant at Komati in quarter two 2026.
However, he pointed to the challenge that the number of jobs created in the transition was not enough to offset the jobs lost from the existing coal value chain.
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