Cape Town — Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe says Eskom should rethink how coal is transported to its power stations in order to avoid sabotage.
According to The Citizen, the utility has been plagued with issues related to sabotage at its power stations, with inferior quality coal being swapped with good coal.
“The quality of coal going to Eskom is an operation matter. It requires the management of Eskom to actually verify what quality and what quantity coal they received. It’s not a departmental matter,” Mantashe was quoted as saying.
He also said that he does not believe that there is a shortage of coal in the country.
“No, there is a quality of coal that is inferior… that’s why I always ask to the minister of electricity the question why Eskom would opt for trucking in coal instead of getting it in cost plus mines next to the power station so that the coal can come to the power station on a conveyor belt.
“That debate has started and it is something serious because you are taking coal through a conveyor belt, the quality is not going to be tempered with. It will be more secured and protected,” he was quoted as saying.
ALSO READ | Load shedding ‘irritates society’ – Mantashe
Meanwhile, Business Day reported that Mantashe said the Komati coal power station decommissioned in October should not have been closed because it provided more power from coal than its planned solar plant would.
“So, if the power station has to come to an end, it can be decommissioned, but if the life can be extended it should be extended,” he was quoted as saying.
Komati is due for some repurposing, in order to provide 220MW of renewable capacity that relies on solar and battery power.
Eskom chairperson Mpho Makwana said that South Africa must decarbonise its economy rapidly, adding that the transition to lower-carbon technologies would create opportunities for the country.
According to News24, Makwana said that the switch should come quickly.
“We need real change in a short space of time to transform and decarbonise our energy sector, transportation sector, food systems, and built environments,” Makwana wrote in Nedbank’s 2022 annual report.
Meanwhile, Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, while presenting his energy action plan, said that the country’s commitments to climate change should not come at the expense of the country’s economy and argued against rushing to get rid of Eskom’s old power plants, EWN reported.
Ramokgopa said that a tough balancing act was required.
Follow African Insider on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Picture: Twitter/@GwedeMantashe1
For more African news, visit Africaninsider.com
Compiled by Junaid Benjamin
