State-owned power utility Eskom expects to complete its socioeconomic impact studies by the end of March for the planned shutdown of the Grootvlei, Komati and Hendrina power stations, in Mpumalanga, which are the first of ten coal plants scheduled for decommissioning by 2040. The decommissioning of the three power stations is anticipated to take place over the coming five years and Eskom has initiated a process to assess the potential for ‘repowering’ some of the stations using alternative generation technologies, including renewables, gas, biomass, battery storage and hydrogen.
