In this opinion article, Sasol senior VP for the Sasolburg & Ekandustria operations Rightwell Laxa, and Sebenzana MD Andrew Carr, argue that old, coal-fired power stations similar to those used by Sasol and Eskom could achieve a much-needed maintenance turnaround by blending dwindling engineering expertise with a high-tech, asset management platform. The authors outline how boiler-tube failures at the Sasolburg power stations were reduced by more than 66% and how the old power stations are now achieving world-class performance levels.