JSE-listed coal and energy group Exxaro Resources and State-owned electricity producer Eskom have announced they will collaborate on research initiatives and projects to reduce carbon emissions and cut air pollution. The two entities, which both have net-zero by 2050 targets, formalised their collaboration through a memorandum of understanding (MoU), signed on April 14.
Eskom CEO Dan Marokane has appealed for the State-owned utility to be given “space” to implement its renewable-energy strategy, insisting that it is not designed to “crowd out” private competitors and is in line with the country’s Just Energy Transition strategy of protecting vulnerable coal workers and communities. Speaking during the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Exxaro aimed primarily at helping to support the coal miner to reduce its Scope 3, or indirect, carbon emissions, Marokane also stressed the utility’s renewables strategy would be pursued in partnership with the private sector.
South Africa is on the cusp of starting a traded electricity market that will give consumers a choice of power products along with a range of pricing options, according to a top investment bank. Africa’s most industrialised economy has relied on state-owned Eskom for the bulk of its electricity supply for more than a century. Mismanagement and underinvestment at the utility led to record outages in 2023, causing government to allow private companies to build power plants of any size to meet their own needs and to sell to the grid.