Question NW4118 to the Minister of Public Enterprises
25 November 2022 - NW4118
Tshwaku, Mr M to ask the Minister of Public Enterprises
What (a) impact will the decommissioning of the Komati Power Station have on the ability of Eskom to generate energy for the Republic and (b) are the suite of interventions that Eskom is making to ensure that it replaces lost generating ability as the specified power station had reached its sell-by date?
Reply:
According to the information received from Eskom
(a)
When the last operating unit at Komati Power Station was shut down on 31 October 2022, this removed a potential 114 MW from the system. Before the shutdown of the Komati units, all nine units had a nominal capacity of 884 MW.
(b)
Eskom plans to add 150 MW solar, 150 MW wind and 70 MW wind power to replace this shut down capacity. Eskom notes that it is not expected that the full capacity of the coal stations to be shut down could be replaced on a 1-to-1 basis by repowering and repurposing with renewables. The responsibility of ensuring adequate capacity lies with the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) and those plans are reflected in the latest Integrated Resource Plan (IRP 2019). The shutdown of Komati is in line with the assumptions in the IRP and in fact, the IRP assumed that 4 888 MW of coal stations would already be shut down by the end of 2022.
Eskom is, however, committed to both improving the performance of the Generation fleet and introducing additional capacity, comprising both renewable and low carbon technologies, in order to assist the DMRE in guaranteeing adequate capacity to meet the electricity demands of the nation.