It has been two years since Eskom shut down the last unit at Komati and not a stone has been turned in building its renewable power capacity.
Over two years after shutting down its Komati coal power station in Mpumalanga to convert it into a renewable power facility, Eskom has not yet appointed the companies that will be building the plant’s new generators.
It has also enabled staunch fossil fuel supporters like mineral resources minister Gwede Mantashe to use Komati as a warning sign against the transition. However, in July 2024, Eskom CEO Dan Maroke also conceded the Komati conversion project had not gone according to plan and greed with Mantashe regarding the impact on the community.
According to former Mpumalanga Premier Refilwe Mtshweni, the number of people working at Komati had declined from about 1,700 to 174 by June 2023. Regardless of the actual number of impacted jobs, it is not disputed that the greater Komati community has been rocked by the shutdown.The World Bank, which has provided $492 million for the project, estimated the Komati conversion should take about four to five years, including planning.When Eskom switched off the last unit at Komati in October 2022, it had not yet secured full approval to use funding from the World Bank to build the plant.
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