World Bank Boss Greenlights SA’s Energy Plan After Successful Meeting With Ministers Godongwana and Gordhan

• Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan met with World Bank President David Malpass over the weekend
• The meeting follows the approval of a R9 billion loan for the Komati Just Energy Transition Project
• Malpass expressed his confidence in SA's capacity to reach its just energy transition targets through the conversion of the Komati power station

MPUMALANGA - Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan showed the president of the World Bank, David Malpass, around the recently decommissioned Komati power station on Saturday, 5 November.

The purpose of the meeting was to seal the deal on the 9 billion funding for the conversion of Komati into a renewable energy station as part of the national energy transition.

Malpass expressed his confidence in SA's ability to meet its just energy transition targets in light of the global community's difficulty in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

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Komati Just Energy Transition Project gets green light as World Bank approves R9bn loan to repurpose power station

Gordhan added that the World Bank president's visit to Komati further indicated confidence in the nation's ability to undertake a just energy transition with net advantages for mining towns' livelihoods and communities.

A report from the World Bank, The Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) for South Africa, suggests that the transition from coal will help achieve energy security, leading to higher economic growth in the nation. This sentiment was echoed by Gordhan, who stated that the Komati Just Energy Transition project would create more jobs and provide training in new skills.

Komati was taken offline on Monday, 31 October, when it reached the end of its life span. The government maintained the employees remaining at the power station at the time of decommissioning would be integrated into the repowering and repurposing project. According to New24, a training facility is already under development.

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Citizens react to the approval of SA's energy plans

South Africans are not fully on board with the loan from the world bank.

Here are some comments:

@gpreller asked:

"Will the renewable project at Komati be fully built, owned and managed by @EskomZA?"

@jeffscottdel claimed:

"Believe it will be powered by locally developed donkey carts fuelled by Jojo tanks! Viva ️!"

Komati Power Station will go green as World Bank approves R9bn funding for just energy transition project

In a related story, Briefly News reported that Eskom's recently decommissioned Komati power station is due to get a much-needed facelift after the World Bank approved financing for the Komati Just Energy Transition Project.

The lion's share of the R9 billion project will be financed through a R8 billion loan from the World Bank. The remaining funds will be secured through a R870 million concessional loan from the Canadian-World Bank Clean Energy and Forest Climate Facility in addition to a R183 million grant from the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program.

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Source: Briefly News