South Africa: Eskom postpones the closure of coal-fired power plants

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Eskom CEO Dan Marokane announced on Tuesday, May 21, the postponement of the closure of certain coal-fired power stations, during an energy conference held in Cape Town, South Africa. .

South African power company Eskom will delay the closure of some coal-fired power plants "in a very considered manner" until 2030 and "manage its carbon emissions reduction targets through the fleet".

The state-owned utility, which supplies 90% of South Africa's electricity , previously said the country's electricity supply crisis made it " nearly impossible " from a technical and political economy perspective. decommissioning its coal-fired power stations at Camden, Grootvlei and Hendrina over the next few years, as had been initially planned.

Eskom's head of generation, Bheki Nxumalo, said four out of 10 units at the Hendrina plant had already been shut down and the utility had no plans to bring those units back into service.

Eskom managed to suspend the recurring power outages that have plagued the country for years, for almost two months before the elections on May 29.