South Africa recommends delaying the decommissioning of its coal-fired power plants. The country has been facing a severe electricity crisis for months, but has pledged to abandon fossil emissions.
Despite its commitments, South Africa is delaying its exit from coal. A request from the authorities to the country’s main electricity supplier. The decommissioning of its power plants will have to wait, in order to avoid power cuts, even if the situation is complicated.
Most of the country’s facilities are old, almost 50 years old, and often suffer from breakdowns. The population can thus be deprived of light for up to 10 hours a day. Under these conditions, the country intends to retain as many means of production as possible: “ we have to make sure the light stays on “, declared the Minister of Electricity, even if it means preserving his dependence on coal.
South Africa, however, has a decarbonization project and climate commitments. The world’s 12th emitter of greenhouse gases, it has adopted a zero carbon emission plan, a plan for which it receives international aid. At COP26 in Glasgow in 2021, several countries, including France and the European Union, pledged to pay more than $8 billion to South Africa to achieve this transition.