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.