Eskom might push back coal power station shutdowns

[Hanno Labuschagne]

Eskom might push back coal power station shutdowns

South Africa’s power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. could run coal-fired stations for years longer than originally planned to allow more renewable power to be built as the country transitions to a greener energy mix.

Coal is used to generate more than 80% of the electricity in Africa’s most industrialised economy, but the switch to cleaner sources of power to reach net zero emissions by 2050 may involve the nation’s power utility continuing to burn the dirtiest fossil fuel.

[Bloomberg]

 

[Lupus]

Than we can pull a Germany and power them all up again when the poo poo hits the wind turbines.

 

[OhYeah84]

...didn't they get $8 billion from the USA or Europe to move towards cleaner energy?

 

[Lupus]

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

Just remember... It's cheaper... Though not for the consumers.

 

[jetlee]

Than we can pull a Germany and power them all up again when the poo poo hits the wind turbines.

I cant see a future that's purely things like solar and wind, perhaps science can get us there with revolutionary storage or insane efficiencies, but not today. But having coal powered stations running many fewer hours a year can only help with longevity and reliability surely ? Wind and solar is a path to a lower carbon footprint, not the holy grail of power...

 

[Lupus]

I cant see a future that's purely things like solar and wind, perhaps science can get us there with revolutionary storage or insane efficiencies, but not today. But having coal powered stations running many fewer hours a year can only help with longevity and reliability surely ? Wind and solar is a path to a lower carbon footprint, not the holy grail of power...

You can't just stop a coal power station , you can control generation from it but stopping it isn't really easy.

 

[Harmonic]

I cant see a future that's purely things like solar and wind, perhaps science can get us there with revolutionary storage or insane efficiencies, but not today. But having coal powered stations running many fewer hours a year can only help with longevity and reliability surely ? Wind and solar is a path to a lower carbon footprint, not the holy grail of power...

Sometimes stopping and starting machinery does more damage to the machine than just leaving it running continuously

 

[jetlee]

You can't just stop a coal power station , you can control generation from it but stopping it isn't really easy.

100% .. Im not suggesting that we throw a few breakers and stop some turbines .. but with forecasting and data models, Im sure its not impossible to get a 2 week runway and put stations on some kind of rotation based on age and reliability and maintenance ... and that those running / maintenance costs "should" be lower if we are using a power station for 3 months of the year instead of hammer and tong at 110% ... I'm no power expert .. just explaining my thought process..

 

[Lupus]

100% .. Im not suggesting that we throw a few breakers and stop some turbines .. but with forecasting and data models, Im sure its not impossible to get a 2 week runway and put stations on some kind of rotation based on age and reliability and maintenance ... and that those running / maintenance costs "should" be lower if we are using a power station for 3 months of the year instead of hammer and tong at 110% ... I'm no power expert .. just explaining my thought process..

Ideally if we had more nuclear and CCTGs instead of OCTGs we could cover peaks and base a bit better that could keep coal used less, but the world got scared of nuclear and keeps thinking waste is a problem

 

[OhYeah84]

South Africa secured $8.5 billion to transition away from coal. It’ll be a test case.

Developing nations have long said they need aid from wealthy countries to shift to renewable energy. South Africa may show how that would work in practice.

www.nytimes.com

"speed up"

View attachment 1351644

I always feel like it's a case of getting the money for the sake of it, and then *poof* it's gone. And we are expected to just forget there was a real reason for it being given in the first place.

 

[Pegasus]

I always feel like it's a case of getting the money for the sake of it, and then *poof* it's gone. And we are expected to just forget there was a real reason for it being given in the first place.

I don't think our cadres will ever say no to any money from the West, they don't even think about what the country has to do for it. The next cadre can just deny any knowledge of it ever happening. End of story.

 

[G.A.S]

Than we can pull a Germany and power them all up again when the poo poo hits the wind turbines.

Ideally if we had more nuclear and CCTGs instead of OCTGs we could cover peaks and base a bit better that could keep coal used less, but the world got scared of nuclear and keeps thinking waste is a problem

Unfortunately that.

And yet Germany keep on shutting down their nuclear plants (or refuse to restart them), even after seeing how much of a risk their natural gas supply really is.

 

[porchrat]

...didn't they get $8 billion from the USA or Europe to move towards cleaner energy?

Worry not citizen! We will use Handy Andy on the coal before sticking it in the boiler.

 

[G.A.S]

100% .. Im not suggesting that we throw a few breakers and stop some turbines .. but with forecasting and data models, Im sure its not impossible to get a 2 week runway and put stations on some kind of rotation based on age and reliability and maintenance ... and that those running / maintenance costs "should" be lower if we are using a power station for 3 months of the year instead of hammer and tong at 110% ... I'm no power expert .. just explaining my thought process..

The problem with weather is that it is pretty much impossible to forecast more than about a week ahead since it is a chaotic system (

watch from 4:42 to 8:15 for adequate background, 7:45 - 8:02 for weather specific)

 

[OhYeah84]

I don't think our cadres will ever say no to any money from the West, they don't even think about what the country has to do for it. The next cadre can just deny any knowledge of it ever happening. End of story.

The cadres hate the West. Well, they enjoy their whisky and expensive alcohol, German and British (*spit*...colonialists!) luxury cars and clearly their money.

 

[system32]

Did my bit to help Eskom, I added 6kWp PV + 20kWh storage. Now Eskom only need 6999.004MW - nearly there.

7GW per year x 5 years = profit

 

[konfab]

They have things backward. Renewable energy is fantastic to cover a transition to nuclear power. Relatively cheap, and its not as if we don't already have load shedding.

 

[Benedict A55h0le]

People must stop suggesting nuclear = never gonna happen in SA. Use less, and buy a solar system and try to go off-grid is the only real option. We are already using much less energy thanks to Eskom.

 

[sdrawk]

Projecting how Eskom is declining, I think by 2050 the entire country will be sharing 1MW of power.....

 

[ConfusedR]

...didn't they get $8 billion from the USA or Europe to move towards cleaner energy?

Probably been deposited into Bank Phala Phala