Eskom and South Africa’s Ministry of Electricity and Energy are preparing for the shutdown of five coal-fired power stations: Grootvlei, Arnot, Camden, Hendrina and Kriel in coming years, taking into account lessons learned from the decommissioning of Komati Power Station in 2022.
Speaking at a briefing to the Presidential Climate Commission on the Just Energy Transition, Eskom’s Group Chief Executive, Dan Marokane, and Minister of Electricity and Energy Kgosientsho Ramokgopa revealed their plans to avoid the social and economic fallout that accompanied the Komati closure.
Plans include the decommissioning and installation of solar and battery energy storage systems (BESS) at Grootvlei Power Station by 2029 with Arnot, Camden, Hendrina and Kriel to follow by 2030.
Reflecting on Komati, the Presidential Climate Commission reported that “moderate progress” was made in repurposing the site. Eskom has shortlisted suppliers to install 72 MW of solar PV, 150 MW of BESS and a synchronous condenser. The utility expects to award the contract for this development within 2025 with construction scheduled to begin by November. A planned wind energy component has been abandoned due to environmental constraints. Eskom is also assessing the potential use of long-duration energy storage technologies, the commission said.
While headway is being made in tackling potential unemployment and the decline in generation caused by these closures, Marokane explained that Eskom has not given up on coal. Research and development teams are investigating a range of technologies, including co-firing coal with green ammonia or biogas, high-efficiency low-emission technologies, flue gas desulphurisation, carbon capture and storage, carbon utilisation and recycling, and gas turbine hydrogen firing.
“We have not stopped looking at technologies that we can use and continue to use our existing coal stations to meet challenges with regard to emissions,” Marokane said.
