South African lawmakers plan probe into emergency power contracts

South African lawmakers plan to probe the country’s emergency power procurement program, the bulk of which was won by Turkey’s Karpowership. A program and terms of reference will be drawn up by the Mineral Resources and Energy Portfolio Committee, its chairman, Zet Luzipo, a lawmaker for the ruling African National Congress, said on Tuesday.
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From a coal-to-gas conversion to a microgrid factory, Eskom builds Komati’s just energy …

State-owned electricity utility Eskom is hoping to transform the workshops at the Komati power station – identified as the flagship site for the piloting of a broader ‘just energy transition’ programme that couples decarbonisation with social upliftment – into a factory capable of manufacturing and assembling a containerised microgrid solution. The Mpumalanga power station has generated electricity since 1961 and its last operational unit is scheduled to be shut in 2022, signalling the start of a coal decommissioning programme that will result in at least 10 500 MW of coal capacity decommissioned by 2030.
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Coal-reliant South Africa is turning to gas power

Power failures have become routine in South Africa. At the same time, the country wants to wean itself off the coal that generates more than 80% of its electricity and makes it the world’s ­twelfth‑biggest source of greenhouse gases. Most of South Africa’s power stations are near the end of their lives. An average of about 1 000 MW of capacity is set to be decommissioned annually over the next decade, which presents an ideal opportunity to begin overhauling the energy system. The question is how.
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