South Africa’s public power utility, Eskom, will delay the closure of some coal-fired power plants.
The Eskom board approved the continued operation of the Camden, Grootvlei, and Hendrina power stations until 2030, according to a report by Engineering News on Monday (May 20). These plants were initially scheduled for retirement between 2023 and 2027.
South Africa faced one of its worst electricity crises last year, with daily power cuts lasting up to 10 hours, severely impacting Africa’s most developed economy. This crisis highlighted the challenges in the government’s energy transition strategy.
Developing countries are often encouraged to prioritize green projects for environmental reasons, leading to various proposals like the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JetP) financing model, which has sparked controversy in South Africa.
The Komati power plant in Mpumalanga was completely retired in October 2022 amid criticism and is set to be repurposed as a wind and solar power facility.