Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan met with World Bank president David Malpass on Saturday to finalise funding to convert the recently decommissioned Komati coal power station in Mpumalanga into a renewable power station.
With the R9 billion concessional loan in place, Komati is set to become the first major coal power station in the country to be converted into a renewable station with 150MW of solar, 70MW of wind, and 150MW of storage batteries.
Komati's decommissioning was announced at the end of October after the station reached the end of its life, after being in operation since 1961.
The World Bank funding will be financed through an R8 billion loan, an R870 million concessional loan from the Canadian-World Bank Clean Energy and Forest Climate Facility, and an R183 million grant from the World Bank's Energy Sector Management Assistance Programme.
Malpass said while reducing greenhouse gas emissions remained difficult globally, he remained confident in South Africa's ability to meet its just energy transition targets.
"Decommissioning the Komati plant this week is a good first step toward low carbon development. We are cognizant of the social challenges of the transition, and we are partnering with the government, civil society, and unions to create economic opportunities for affected workers and communities," said Malpass.
Gordhan said Malpass' visit to Komati was an expression of confidence in South Africa's ability to implement a just energy transition with net benefits for the livelihoods and communities of mining towns.
"This project will greatly assist Eskom, South Africa, and the international community to develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of how the processes of decommissioning and repurposing of coal-powered stations can be done in a manner which mitigates the socio-economic impacts for workers and communities; before we scale up the move of the power sector into a low-carbon path. Crucially, it will provide training in new skills and for new jobs," said Gordhan.
Godongwana said the funding Eskom is receiving from the World Bank would help the entity meet its de-carbonisation and just energy transition targets.
"The repurposing of Komati is a critical first step in a long journey, one that we cannot walk alone if we are to strike the urgent balance between our environmental, economic, and energy imperatives. We will continue to mobilise capital, internationally and domestically, to finance the transition in the interest of the lives and livelihoods of our people," said Godongwana.
While the last unit at Komati was decommissioned and switched off at the end of October, the government said employees remaining in Komati at the time of the decommissioning will become part of the repowering and repurposing project with a training facility already under development.