The chairman of state-run South African power utility Eskom said on Thursday that plans unveiled in March to decommission five coal-fired power station just weren’t in effect and could be shelved determined by economic growth along with factors.
South Africa is diversifying its energy mix faraway from an over-reliance on coal-power plants to add in greener solar and wind power projects.
South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and other unions have threatened strike action on the proposals, that would threaten thousands of jobs inside coal-producing eastern province of Mpumalanga.
“It’s a scenario. If you place in a specific quantity of independent power producers (IPPs) you need to limit the capacity space because of power stations. That would cause mothballing,” Eskom Chairman Ben Ngubane told Reuters over the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on Africa in Durban.
But he said should the pace of adding IPP projects into the grid did not be held you wish anticipated, or maybe if economic growth that was flatlining found, next the plants may not be shut down.
There is uncertainty within the rollout of IPPs, which would mostly involve alternative energy sources like solar and wind.
Industry experts have declared that Eskom slowed the interest rate of agreeing new electrical power contracts after power in Africa stabilized during the past year, following shortages in 2015 that led to rolling power cuts known locally as “load shedding.”
Energy Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi said on Tuesday that power shortages could return in 3-4 years.
But Ngubane said frequently . averted if Eskom stuck for the maintenance projects on its ageing plants.
“If we dependable the constant maintenance plans then there really should not any danger of load shedding. When we neglect maintenance we should be twiddling with fire,” he was quoted saying.
