Greenpeace urges phase-out of Eskom's coal power stations

Environmental lobby group Greenpeace has recommended that Eskom phase out its coal-fired power stations by 2040 as the utility approaches a staggering R500bn debt. According to a Cape Times report, Greenpeace last week published a study titled ‘Eskom: a roadmap to powering the future’ on the transition of the country’s electricity sector and Eskom’s business model. In the report, Greenpeace suggested that Eskom embark on a gradual programme to phase out its coalfired power generation. Greenpeace recommended that Eskom distinguish older power stations for controlled decommissioning over the next five years and their sale – except Medupi and Kusile – in competitive auctions. It said Medupi and Kusile should be sold in a package which would make it clear to investors that enough capital had to be raised to pay back associated loans. ‘By selling the coal-fired power plants, Eskom could significantly reduce its debt burden and turn to sustainable segments of the electricity sector,’ it said. Greenpeace urged the government to continue with the Independent Power Producers programme, but let Eskom participate so that the company can grow into new businesses. ‘Eskom’s reform is almost laughably overdue; the utility is technically insolvent, inefficient, unable to guarantee security of supply, wildly unprepared for an energy transition to renewable energy, and is the country’s biggest emitter of toxic pollutants and greenhouse gases, which are driving us towards a climate and pollution emergency,’ said Happy Khambule, Greenpeace Africa’s senior political adviser.

The study, which outlines multiple steps the struggling power utility should take, focuses on two key issues: the total phasing out of coal by 2040, accompanied by what Greenpeace calls a Just Transition. According to a Daily Maverick report, the organisation said a Just Transition required communications with and prioritisation of the well-being of people who lived and worked in coal regions. ‘Eskom needs to morph from an energy generation company to an energy transmission company,’ energy analyst and managing director of EE Publishers Chris Yelland said. Yelland and Greenpeace both emphasised that Eskom should not have a monopoly on energy generation, with the report highlighting that the refinancing of the debt-ridden utility should be conducted through the sale of all remaining coal-fired power stations. As a transmission company, Eskom would ‘provide a platform for energy to be bought from a number of different generating companies in a competitive environment based on economic principles’, said Yelland. ‘Now, the new administration needs to prove their credibility and that their pre-electoral promises about the reform of Eskom and the electricity sector were not merely cheap electioneering tactics. The decisions that need to be taken about Eskom’s future will not be easy, but it is the government’s responsibility to ensure that a bold shift to renewable energies, with Eskom as a public good at the centre, becomes a reality,’ said Khambule.