Eskom will replace its declining coal capacity with clean-energy options in line with country policy and the Just Energy Transition, Eskom GM for primary energy Dan Mashigo told participants at a conference on coal and the energy transition.

Speaking on behalf of Eskom CEO Dan Marokane, Mashigo reported that the State-owned company had a 20-GW-plus generation project pipeline, including 6 GW of solar PV, 4 GW of hybrid wind-PV-battery projects, 4 GW of gas-to-power, 3 GW of nuclear and 3.5 GW of hydro, wind and battery storage.

He did not indicate how these projects would be financed, or how they were reflected in the Integrated Resources Plan (IRP), which is currently being revised. However, Mashigo indicated that they would be pursued in line with allocations provided under the IRP.

Eskom would seek to leverage its competitive advantages in relation to access to land, licences, skills and decommissioned coal sites to roll-out future capacity.

A slide presented as part of the address pointed to coal’s contribution of total capacity falling from 83% of the 48 GW installed in 2025 to 48% of the 54 GW of capacity projected for 2035.

Coal demand would remain “significant for some time”, but would fall steadily from more than 100-million tons yearly in 2025 to about 40-million tons in 2050, when only Majuba, Medupi and Kusile would remain operational.

The decline in coal to 2030 had been moderated by a recent decision by government to allow Eskom to operate Hendrina, Grootvlei, Arnot, Camden and Kriel until March 31, 2030, under existing emission standards, which are lax by world standards. The stations were originally scheduled to be decommissioned in phases ahead of that date.

Mashigo also restated Eskom’s interest in building small modular nuclear reactors as part of its build programme and even suggested that such reactors could be installed at decommissioned coal sites.