South Africa allowed eight coal-fired plants run by state-owned Eskom to breach emission rules in an attempt to help the cash-strapped utility focus resources on providing a steady electricity supply.
According to Bloomberg, the Lethabo, Kendal, Tutuka, Majuba, Matimba and Medupi plants were given five-year exemptions, while Duvha and Matla were granted extensions until 2034, Environment Minister Dion George said at a briefing in Cape Town on Monday.
Five other plants run by Eskom, the nation’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, secured exemptions until mid-2030.
Massive health and environmental cost
South Africa, the most industrialised nation in Africa relies on coal for more than 80% of electricity generation.
The exemption will help Eskom extend the time it spends running its plants in a country that’s suffered from rotational blackouts for decades, but could carry a massive health and environmental cost.
Eskom’s plan to stabilise supply relies on extending the decommissioning dates of some coal stations.
South Africa must roll out renewable energy plants “with urgency” along with other measures to accelerate transition, George said, adding that Eskom wanted longer extensions.
“I did not give them what they wanted.”
Eskom’s plan to transition to cleaner sources of energy has hit multiple delays, from grid constraints to court battles that slowed a program to build renewable plants.
Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa this month warned that the system remained vulnerable because of delays in the procurement of more generation capacity.
The nation’s sole nuclear power station, once regarded as Eskom’s most-reliable plant, has been among the units that have broken down.
The health effects of running coal plants for longer could take a bigger toll than the economic constraints of load shedding.
Delays to the planned closures of coal-fired power plants alone could result in thousands of deaths from air pollution and lead to billions of dollars of health-related costs, the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air said in a report last year.
Price hike
Meanwhile, as reported by The South African website, Eskom confirmed that electricity will cost 12.74% more from 1 April 2025 onwards.
That percentage hike was approved by national energy regulator Nersa after Eskom had originally applied for a whopping 36.15% increase.
Eskom has already been given the green light to hike electricity prices by a further 5.36% in 2026/27 and 6.19% in 2027/28.
By way of example, if your monthly electricity bill is currently a round R1 000, from next month onwards you’ll pay R1 127.40.
That’s an extra R127.40 per month – or R1 528.80 over the course of the next year.
Is dirty air an acceptable trade-off for keeping the lights on?
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