Why is Komatie going green? – expert

An energy expert has raised questions about a multi-billion-rand loan from the World Bank awarded to South Africa, saying the benefit to the country would be limited.

On Friday the World Bank approved an R9 billion loan to repurpose the coal-fired Komati power plant to use renewables and batteries.

The lifespan of the plant in Mpumalanga came to an end on Monday after being in operation since 1961.

The bank said the project would create opportunities for affected workers and communities. World Bank Group president David Malpass said reducing greenhouse gas emissions was a difficult challenge worldwide, and particularly in South Africa, given the high carbon intensity of the energy sector.

However, Matthew Cruise believes it will not do much to resolve South Africa’s energy crisis.

‘Why’s the government (sic), seeing that Germany is now actually going back to coal and opening up their plans of bringing nuclear back after realising that big solar farms and big wind farms cannot be relied upon for stable electricity… but it is very concerning for me to see that, with the load shedding we have, the government’s just talking about renewables when it doesn’t really solve the problem.’