Eskom spending R53 billion to shut down and convert four power stations
Eskom’s project to repurpose its Komati power station in Mpumalanga will cost $497 million (R9 billion) and ultimately remove 114MW of capacity from the grid.
This is according to a response to parliamentary questions addressed to Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan.
Costs to complete similar projects at the Camden, Grootvlei, and Hendrina power stations are estimated to total $2.6 billion (R44 billion).
The R2 billion destined for the decommissioning and repurposing of the Komati power station comes in the form of a World Bank concessional loan facility to Eskom.
South Africa’s power utility plans to completely shut down seven power stations by the end of 2032. It also intends to shut down several units at two additional power stations.
To compensate for the loss of generation capacity resulting from Komati’s shutdown, Eskom plans to add 150MW of solar power generation, 800MWh of battery storage, and 70MW of wind power to the grid.
“Eskom notes that it is not expected that the full capacity of the coal stations to be shut down could be replaced on a 1-to-1 basis by repowering and repurposing with renewables,” Gordhan said.
“The responsibility of ensuring adequate capacity lies with the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), and those plans are reflected in the latest Integrated Resource Plan (IRP 2019).”
The power utility’s decommissioning plans generally align with IRP assumptions. However, it is behind schedule.
The IRP assumed that Eskom would have already shut down 4,888MW of its coal generation capacity — at least 3,888MW less than what Eskom has achieved so far.
The power utility, to date, has only decommissioned the Komati power station, which was capable of generating 1,000MW of power at peak output.
However, in his answers, Gordhan specified that the power station’s generation units had a nominal capacity of 884MW — 4,004MW less than the IRP’s timeline suggests.
“Eskom is, however, committed to both improving the performance of the generation fleet and introducing additional capacity, comprising both renewable and low carbon technologies, in order to assist the DMRE in guaranteeing adequate capacity to meet the electricity demands of the nation,” he added.
Eskom shuts down Komati
Eskom shut down the 61-year-old Komati power station on Monday, 31 October 2022, when it reached the end of its operational life.
“After serving South Africa since 1961, the coal-fired Komati Power Station in Mpumalanga has today reached the end of its operating life and has been shut down from midday,” the power utility said.
While Eskom shut down individual units at the power station over the years, the final generator — unit 9 — was the last to be turned off. Unit 9 entered service in March 1966.
Komati’s construction cost an estimated R80 million and took eight years to complete. However, it was deactivated in the 1980s due to an oversupply of electricity in the country, and the station’s age and high maintenance costs.
Eskom secured the $497 million (R9 billion) loan in early November 2022 as part of an initiative to transition away from fossil fuels.
“The decommissioning and repurposing of the Komati coal-fired plant is a demonstration project that can serve as a reference on how to transition fossil-fuel assets for future projects in South Africa and around the world,” the World Bank said.
However, in a country that produces 80% of its electricity through coal power generation, the decommissioning of South Africa’s coal power stations could result in significant job losses.
The World Bank said some of the funds had been set aside to create economic opportunities for local communities to mitigate job losses.
It specified that approximately 15,000 people would benefit from these funds. The coal mines that supply Eskom employ around 90,000 workers.
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