According to Eskom’s CEO, André de Ruyters, the country will need to spend around R1.2 trillion by 2030 to address its energy crisis. He noted that the country needs to have enough generation, transmission, and distribution capacity to meet its growing demand.
During his presentation at the Africa Renewable Energy Summit, which was held in Johannesburg on September 28, Eskom CEO, Mr. Khulu, stated that renewable energy is the most cost-effective and quickest way to resolve the country’s electricity crisis.
Wind and solar farms can be built in just two years, while coal-fired plants can take up to 10 years. These renewable energy sources can help the country protect its electricity exports, as rising carbon tariffs threaten the industry.
Despite this, he noted that building new coal plants would cost around double or even triple the current cost. This would result in more load shedding and put South Africa’s exports at risk.
Despite the various advantages of renewable energy sources, de Ruyter noted that South Africa is still running out of time to address its energy crisis. One of the country’s coal plants is already at its end of life, and another 1,000MW is scheduled to go offline in 2022.
In 2035, nine of Eskom’s coal plants will be offline, which will put 55,000 jobs at risk. By 2050, 12 of the company’s plants will be offline, which will result in the loss of around 30,000 megawatts. To address this issue, the CEO of Eskom suggested that the country should focus on renewable energy projects.
- 3,500MW from the Seriti renewables projects
- 1,440MW from Kusile entering full operation
- 2,000MW from independent power producers (IPPs) on leased land
- 3,500MW from new pumped storage
- 1,500MW from municipal procurement
- 2,600MW from REIPPP 5 projects
- 5,200MW from REIPPP 6 projects
- 7,000+MW from other projects
