Cyril Ramaphosa Calls Urgent Eskom Meeting As Ageing Power Plant Retirement Go-Slow Threatens Just Transition

• President Cyril Ramaphosa has called an urgent Cabinet meeting regarding a controversial plan from Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa
• Ramokgopa has proposed a slowdown of the retirement of Eskom's old power stations, in direct conflict with the Just Energy Transition and SA's climate goals
• The electricity minister acknowledged that switching to renewables is the future, but coal is still SA's base load energy supply

CAPE TOWN - President Cyril Ramaphosa has called an urgent special Cabinet meeting following the ANC's national working committee's (NWC) approval of a plan to slow down the retirement of old coal power stations.

According to News24, the meeting will take place on Wednesday, 19 April, to examine the plan's merits.

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa proposes controversial plan

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa drew up a plan that calls for the refurbishment of ageing plants and deeper investment in SA's existing coal mines.

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While the ANC NWC gave the plan the green light, slowing down the retirement of the plants lies in stark contrast to South Africa's Just Energy transition.

The transition, which Ramaphosa has advocated and attracted R154 trillion in foreign investment for, hinges on the decarbonisation of SA's energy mix and a shift to renewable energy, BusinessTech reported.

Ramokgopa worried renewables won't generate enough energy

Ramokgopa conceded that renewable energy is the future. However, he raised concerns that replacing decommissioned power plants with renewable energy sources may not generate a sufficient amount of power to electrify the country.

Ramokgopa added that in light of the deepening electricity crisis, coal remains the foundation of the country's base load energy supply.

South Africans are not confident in electricity minister's plan

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Below are some comments:

@MyrtiV said:

"His Royal Highness King Gwede Mantashe will inform the cabinet that he and the mafia have decided on coal and Karpowership."

@nudgeitforward mused:

"Curious whether this was an engineering decision or a political decision."

@GlennJen criticised:

"In SA, we truly have the blind leading the blind!"

@DavidHe47654658 commented:

"Madness. Not unexpected madness, but madness nonetheless."

@bertje_sa added:

"SA slows down processes on every front when it needs an accelerated response to solve problems."

Kgosientsho Ramokgopa insists loadshedding didn’t reach Stage 8 amid reports Eskom increased blackouts

In another story, Briefly News reported that Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa insisted that loadshedding has not exceeded Stage 6 despite reports that Eskom secretly implemented Stage 8 last week.

According to Sunday Times, the embattled power utility "silently" shed 7 072MW of electricity, pushing the country into the Stage 8 threshold of 7 001MW to 8 000MW.

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However, Ramokgopa noted that he had no information from Eskom that Stage 8 loadshedding had been implemented.

Source: Briefly News