daniel chigunweEskom plans to compete with private power developers by gradually replacing coal with cleaner technologies as overall capacity grows over the next decade.
The utility, which hasn’t had to resort to blackouts to save the grid from collapsing for more than three months, is looking to expand capacity.
Eskom will add generation from a pipeline of solar, wind, hydro, battery, gas and nuclear sources, Dan Mashigo, its general manager for primary energy, said at a Johannesburg conference on Tuesday. The overall capacity of the system will increase to 54 gigawatts by 2035 from 48 gigawatts next year.
Coal that makes up about 83percent of supply will drop to 48percent in 2035, according to the presentation.
Still, with 11% from gas and diesel, most of its electricity will be generated by fossil fuels for another decade. — Bloomberg
Bongani Ndlovu