Minister of Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokhopa, presented the energy action in a Cabinet Meeting. The minister said that the country’s commitments to climate change should not be in the expanse of the country’s economy.
According to a report by Eyewitness News, Ramokhopa believes that they should not rush to push away old Eskom plants.
As the country struggle with load-shedding, the national energy crisis committee met with the Cabinet to present the action plan which included short-term and medium-term solutions. According to the CEO of Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA), Busi Mavuso, the plans on how to tackle the crisis are already established, whereas the implementation of those plans falls short due to the government.
“Business has backed that plan, going so far as to raise R100 million to pay for the technical skills needed for its implementation,” she said.
In her newsletter, Mavuso stated that the businesses welcomed the minister and his promises not only to create new policies but implement the existing NECOM plans.
However, the BLSA said that it raised concerns that the minister is deviating away from these plans when he proposed the use of the old Eskom power plant and delaying the decommissioning of the station to boost short-term energy generation.
“When a plan is agreed upon, it aligns many stakeholders. When it is then deviated from, it inevitably creates misalignment and a loss of trust,” said Mavuso.
“It was disconcerting to see last week a major deviation from that plan being proposed to the cabinet. It was rejected, with the instruction that it should first be considered by NECOM. But why did the new minister contemplate the proposal which envisaged a major new investment in coal and extending the life of coal-powered stations? Such plans must be considered carefully.”
“They require huge amounts of investment, can only affect electricity availability several years ahead of us, and may well face operating costs that are higher than the costs of alternative sources of new electricity,” she added.
