State-owned power utility Eskom is on track to ensure that the country’s electricity sector achieves net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, with an increase in sustainable jobs, should its Strategy 2035 continue to be effectively implemented, says Eskom Just Energy Transition (JET) GM Mandy Rambharos.

“Although it is a joint responsibility of all sectors to contributing to decarbonising South Africa, decarbonising the electricity sector, which contributes 41% of the country’s carbon emissions, will have a significant positive impact overall.”

Should South Africa fail to transition, she says the country “would have been left behind” from a competitiveness perspective as the rest of the world, including our key trade partners, transitions to a low-carbon economy.

The JET’s plan to repurpose existing coal-fired power stations and replace them with cleaner sources of power amid the country’s energy crisis has been criticised, but its role is complementary and not contrary to solving the energy crisis, she emphasises.

Ongoing load-shedding has made individuals increasingly wary of the variable power associated with the roll-out of utility-scale renewable-energy projects.

While it is argued that this strategy replaces dispatchable power with variable renewable power, the country’s load profile has changed significantly, shifting to “peakier loads”, says Rambharos,

“We need additional generating capacity, and renewable power is the quickest, cheapest and cleanest generating capacity that can be added to the grid. But we also need additional storage in the form of pumped hydropower storage and battery storage, as well as flexible capacity such as gas, to support the system adequacy requirements and peaking plant.”

All these options will ease the energy crisis and help address load-shedding while aiding South Africa’s transition process to a low-carbon economy.

She adds that the interventions aimed at ending load-shedding, announced last month by President Cyril Ramaphosa, support the JET and are in line with Eskom CEO André de Ruyter’s narrative, since he took the reins, on what needs to be done to resolve load-shedding and facilitate the country’s decarbonisation transition.

“The President mentioned the use of the $8.5-billion – received through the JET Partnership announced at COP26 to fund grid development and upgrades – which is an aspect that we have been pushing for a long time,” says Rambharos.

Priority Projects

Of the 117 projects supporting the JET, Eskom has prioritised transmission projects.

“Projects are prioritised according to the country’s current needs and the financing secured at COP26 should be prioritised for the improvement of public, and enabling infrastructure such as the transmission grid. Developing the grid in the Northern and Eastern Cape is a priority.

“But, as this will take some time, Eskom also aims to ensure that the grid is made available for project developers in areas where there is existing grid capacity such as in Mpumalanga. As coal plants are shut down, more grid capacity will become available, so we also want to channel money to upgrading this available capacity, where relevant, through investment in substations and transformers,” elaborates Rambharos.

These projects are running in parallel with distribution projects, distribution grid upgrades, microgrid roll-outs and some generation projects, which include repowering and repurposing programmes.

From a grid perspective, Eskom has 47 projects that are “good to go”, it is just a matter of securing servitudes and firm financing

“Servitude acquisition is a key barrier, but we are in discussions with the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure at the highest level to resolve the issue,” adds Rambharos.

Eskom’s next land offering for renewable-energy project development by independent power producers through its land lease programme is forthcoming, she highlights.

“We have 5 GW of grid capacity ready to go, but are finalising studies to ensure that the next tranche of land we offer is suitable for renewable-energy developments and has access to grid capacity.”

Another aspect holding up the implementation of JET projects is Eskom’s requirement for Section 34 determinations. Rambharos says allowing for blanket Section 34 approval under the Energy Regulation Act will prevent the delay of photovoltaic plants below 100 MW in capacity.

“As South Africans, we try to tick all the boxes before starting a project. The JET is groundbreaking and new globally, and we need to start implementation so that we can learn by doing. We won’t get it perfect at the start, mistakes will be made, but we need to get shovels in the ground.”

Eskom has tremendous support for its JET programme but also faces criticism, where the complementarity of the transition and the crisis are not understood, but no other organisation is doing as much, states Rambharos.