Closure: Grootvlei power station will reach the end of its life in five years’ time. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
Repurposing the Camden, Hendrina and Grootvlei coal-fired power plants with renewable generation capacity will come with a $2.6 billion price tag, Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan said in a recent reply to parliamentary questions.
The funding is anticipated to come from a combination of development finance institutions, climate funds and the private sector.
Touted as the cultural heartland, Mpumalanga is, in reality, the country’s coal heartland, producing more than 80% of South Africa’s coal.
The Mpumalanga Highveld is home to 12 of Eskom’s 15 coal-fired power stations, Sasol’s coal-to-liquids plant in Secunda, and the NatRef refinery in Sasolburg. Weaning the coal-dependent region off coal is a cornerstone of the government’s transition plans.
Grootvlei, near the town of Balfour, was constructed in the 1960s and mothballed in 1990 because of excess power at the time. In 2013, former president Jacob Zuma reopened it, after a R7.2 billion upgrade. Grootvlei will reach the end of its operational life in 2027, Eskom said.
The country’s energy planning is within the mandate of the department of mineral resources and energy and its integrated resource plan 2019, which sets out the electricity plan until 2030, including the closure of existing power stations, Eskom said.
As part of this, many of Eskom’s coal-fired power stations come to the end of their operating life between now and 2035.
“Eskom’s plans on the just energy transition are aligned with the country’s plan towards meeting nationally determined contributions [national climate plans under the 2015 Paris Agreement] in transitioning to net zero by 2050 and involves the introduction of clean technologies as the coal plants reach the end of their operational life.”
At Grootvlei, the reskilling and retraining of workers on renewable energy has not started. Eskom has secured a R180 million grant from German development bank KfW to establish a renewable energy training facility at Grootvlei and “discussions are underway”.
Last year, Eskom and the World Bank commissioned a technical study into the repurposing of Grootvlei, Komati, Hendrina and Komati power stations. “This has already resulted in repowering and repurposing to take place at the Komati coal-fired power station that stopped operating at the end of October 2022,” Eskom said.
Komati will now have a second life producing renewable energy, which includes about 150 megawatts of solar energy, up to 70MW of wind energy and 150MW of battery storage.
Eskom said Komati will be used as a blueprint for other power stations. “While available information shows that wind is viable in these sites, Eskom is installing met masts on the different sites to measure wind data. This data will help to make a final decision, especially around Grootvlei, around the viability of wind.”
A senior employee at Grootvlei, who did not want to be named, said: “The sad part is that we learn about these just energy transition things from the media, rather than our own space at work. Until today, we don’t know what the training and skills will entail but the money has already been sourced.
“The only thing we know as Eskom permanent employees is that we are assured we are not going to lose jobs. How [this is possible] we do not know.
“By 2035, we will be phasing out 10 Eskom power stations. That means we’ll be left with only five coal-fired power stations. And then they said by 2040, only two will be left [Kusile and Medupi]. There’s no way that those two power stations can absorb everybody,” he said.
“We will [initially] be transferred to other power stations but we are members of society. In our society we have people that are employed in Eskom permanently and people employed on a contractual basis.”
More than 60% of Grootvlei’s workforce are contractors. “So, basically, they will lose their jobs,” the technician believes.
The technician lives in the nearby town of Heidelberg, where he bought a house and raised a family. Their future is uncertain.
“If we close [Grootvlei], maybe we get to choose where to go. The better place for me is Kriel power station but the plan is saying that five years later they’re closing that plant, so I will keep on moving and moving … Then it comes to a point where you say, maybe it’s better to quit Eskom, but you don’t know where to go,” he said, adding that Grootvlei’s engineers had stated the plant had a lifespan until 2035.
“Even if there can be other options, you are saying this person needs to leave [their] family and relocate or create some divorces,” said one worker. “That’s unjust … Other countries had an option to try new things under their transitions, without shutting down what existed until they’re sure that ‘this works for us’.”
Another Grootvlei employee said the plant is all she knows. “I trained at this plant, I’ve been here my whole life … so now if they say, go home or find another job elsewhere? I’m skilled in power generation. That’s all I know. We are not sure with this new energy that’s coming, is it going to come with its own people that are trained or are we going to be retrained from scratch?”
Energy mix: People living near Grootvlei use wood, coal and electricity as fuel. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
She worries, too, that she won’t earn the same salary. “It will be a process of ‘take it or leave it’. They will tell you your power station is closing. That they are offering you something and it’s better than nothing. We’re being forced to reshuffle our lives.”
Eskom said information regarding Grootvlei’s employees may not be shared because “HR are still in the process of consulting with organised labour”.
The workers fear the area will become a ghost town.
“Communities and businesses will suffer — people will be retrenched,” said one person. “Eskom employees bought houses around this power station, so now what must they do with them? They will have to sell but to whom? Who would want to come live here?”
Eskom said socioeconomic assessments have been and are being conducted for a number of Eskom’s older coal-fired power stations, including Grootvlei. “The report for Grootvlei with the detailed mitigation and implementation plan will be released for public comment once finalised” early next year.
In support of a just transition, it had signed a letter of intent with the Netherlands embassy. “The aim of the grant-funded agricultural-related studies at Grootvlei are to determine the most applicable climate-smart, labour-intensive farming and agricultural related repurposing opportunities for the site.”
This is to create a “positive social, economic and environmental impact on the surrounding area”, and to ensure local people’s involvement. Discussions on plans for agriculture and horticultural activities at Grootvlei are still underway.
Blessing Manale, the head of communications and outreach at the Presidential Climate Commission, said the reality was once power stations reached end of life it was unaffordable to keep running them.
“We still keep our vintage cars, but we don’t keep them to take the kids to school because they won’t make it … That is what these power stations will become — vintage, non-productive. And no one is going to give you money for coal [in 2035].”
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