It has been over three years since Eskom announced the imminent closure of five of its coal-fired power stations. This was generally welcomed as one of the necessary steps on the road towards meeting the country's environmental commitments as a signatory to the Paris Accord.
At the same time, however, this announcement gave new vigour to the concerns about the fate of workers and communities whose livelihood was dependent on the coal economy. It was clear that a ‘just transition’ would be the ideal route from a coal-intensive energy system to a low-carbon future. Such as transition would also have to be fair to energy users, offering them affordable prices and access to electricity.
“The key argument behind a just transition is that our move away from coal must be a process that is well managed, with a phased approach and clear guidelines that are followed in a planned manner. Importantly, this is an approach that the trade unions also support," said Andrew van Zyl, director and principal consultant at SRK Consulting.
The number of workers directly involved is significant; coal mining employs about 82,000 workers, and Eskom employs about 12,000 in its power stations. Some regional and local economies are built on the coal industry, especially in the province of Mpumalanga. In the municipality of Emalahleni, for example, some 38% of gross value added (GVA) comes from coal mining. The impacts of mine closure on suppliers and industries such as retail and services are expected to be severe. Coal-powered generation will, of course, continue for decades to come, but is expected to include cleaner coal technologies.
SRK Contributors:
Andrew van Zyl, Norman McGeorge, Ashleigh Maritz, Lisl Fair, Jessica Edwards
