South Africa has been granted World Bank financing of $497m to decommission Komati and convert it to renewable energy.
In a statement overnight on Thursday, the bank said the newly closed Komati power station about 170 kilometres (105 miles) northeast of Johannesburg will be repurposed using solar and wind sources, supported by batteries for storage.
The project aims at easing carbon emissions and creating economic opportunities in the area, which has been home to one of Africa’s largest coal plants for more than 60 years.
“Closing the Komati plant this week is a good first step toward low carbon development,” said World Bank Group President David Malpass.
South Africa secured $8.5bn in loans and grants at the UN climate talks last year from a group of rich nations to finance its switch to greener energy.
But it remains heavily dependent on coal, which generates 80 percent of its electricity. The power sector accounts for 41 percent of national CO2 emissions.
Africa’s most industrialised economy has been suffering sweeping power outages caused by failures at state-owned energy firm Eskom’s ageing and poorly maintained infrastructure.
Workers laid off by the plant’s closure will be supported through a transition plan, while a portion of the financing will be spent on creating economic opportunities within local communities.
Eskom says the loan will be guaranteed by the National Treasury.
“This is a significant development for South Africa’s Just Energy Transition to renewable energy as it brings the much-needed funding to enable Eskom to train its employees and members of the host communities to empower them to continue playing a central role in the provision of clean energy for the country,” said Mpho Makwana, Chairman of the Eskom Board.
Eskom and the South African Renewable Energy Technology Centre (SARETEC) recently signed an agreement to formalise their collaboration to develop renewable energy artisan skills, to support the implementation of the Just Energy Transition. The objective is to educate, reskill, and upskill Eskom Komati Power Station staff and qualifying beneficiaries from the surrounding communities in the Mpumalanga region.
“This is in line with Eskom’s drive to ensure that we prepare our people and have a pipeline of local skills ready for the inevitable transition, which will be just,” said Eskom Chief Executive André de Ruyter.
“Given the accelerated global movement towards investment in a clean energy transition, there is a need in South Africa to upskill, retrain and develop a workforce to take full advantage of the opportunities presented by this transition. To achieve this Eskom is working with its recognised labour unions and representatives of the host community.”
Having commenced service in 1966, the last operating unit of Komati (121MW) was shut down and ceased operations at the end of October 2022.
The funding comprises a $439.5m World Bank loan, a $47.5m concessional loan from the Canadian Clean Energy and Forests Climate Facility and a $10m grant from the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP), an initiative to help low and middle-income countries.
Earlier this week the World Bank said South Africa would require at least $500bn to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
Source: Al Jazeera, Eskom
