2023-12-06 23:27:50
In the middle of COP28, and while South Africa is among the fifteen largest emitters of greenhouse gases in the world, and is the first on the continent, its coal-fired power plants could see their lifespan be extended. In any case, this is the direction that the ruling party, the ANC, would like to take, while the country is unable to emerge from its energy crisis and must continue with power cuts.
According to the plans of the public company Eskomwhich produces more than 80% of its electricity from coal, six power plants should reach the end of their life and be shut down by 2030. But if this is already the case for one of them, Komati , the ANC now wants the rest to continue functioning.
Cyril Ramaphosa heard the message earlier this year at a party rally: “ While ending load shedding is a priority for us, the national executive committee supports the approach of revisiting our decommissioning programme, to strike a balance between our energy security and our climate commitments. A number of other countries have had to make similar choices when faced with different crises in their energy sector. »
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The executive is currently maintaining vagueness around the possible new timetable, and affirms that it is still committed to a transition, but at its own pace. Because with less than a year until the general election, the most urgent objective is to keep the lights on. “ If we push these shutdowns back by one to two years, we don’t think it’s really a problem, because it shouldn’t fundamentally change our emissions trajectory. But if we are talking about a long extension, ten or fifteen years, that will pose a problem, because we will not be able to respect our nationally determined contributions. “, explains the director of the Presidential Commission on Climate, Crispian Olver.
Civil society organizations are concerned about the impact on air quality that these delays could have. Leanne Govindsamy of the Center for Environmental Rights (CER) also warns of financial risks: “ Part of the promised sums, which comes from the Climate Investment Funds, up to 500 million dollars, is attached to the dismantling. If we postpone this dismantling, these resources are in danger. However, it is this type of fund, very concessional, which can help launch the decarbonization of our electricity sector, to prevent, in the future, our exported goods from finding themselves taxed by the carbon border adjustment mechanism. . »
The World Bank recalls for its part that “ Investing in new technologies, particularly renewable energy, is the cheapest and fastest solution to meeting South Africa’s energy needs. »
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