Thread by @CrispianOlver

Given the misinformation circulating about @Eskom_SA’s #Komati power station, here is a thread about its decommissioning. 1/

The #Komati power station was commissioned in 1961, consisting of nine coal-fired generators, with a total installed capacity of 1 GW by 1966—more than twice the capacity of any existing power station at that time. 2/

The construction and operation of the power station brought new jobs and communities into the area, with more than 500 people finding fulltime work at the plant itself, along with a burgeoning local economy. 3/

In its decades of operation, a community was built around the #Komati power station, which was deeply connected to the plant and its operations. 4/

In the late 1980s, after more than 20 years of operation, the #Komati plant was mothballed because of surplus capacity on the @Eskom_SA grid, the increasing costs to maintain older power plants, and the ability to bring more commercially viable plants online. 5/

By the early 2000s, the onset of load shedding pressed the #Komati power plant back into service. By the end of 2012, all nine coal-fired generators were running again. 6/

In 2017, Eskom began looking into possible decommissioning of South Africa’s five oldest plants, including #Komati which had reached the end of its design life and was no longer economic to run. Two generators at #Komati were placed in reserve that same year. 7/

At the time, 586 full-time Eskom employees worked at the power station, with more than 1000 people further employed as contractors. 8/

Between 2018 and 2022, all nine #Komati generators were sequentially removed from operation. As the units were shutdown, various spares & plant equipment were removed & transferred to other power stations. The number of jobs supported by the plant also declined. 9/

In October 2022, the last operational unit at #Komati was shut down, which had been generating just 121 MW of power, marking the closure of #Komati as a coal power station. 10/

Without a complete overhaul and investments to replace generators and related equipment, the power plant could not be brought back to life in its earlier form. 11/

At the time of closure, there were 236 full time @Eskom_SA employees working at #Komati, along with 133 Eskom Rotek Industries employees and contract workers. 12/

@Eskom_SA stated that no employees would lose their jobs as a result of the closure, with these workers transferred to other plants, retained at #Komati to maintain existing infrastructure, or skilled for redeployment in renewables-related work at #Komati. 13/

In 2020, @Eskom_SA established a Just Energy Transition office, aiming to repurpose and repower decommissioned power stations, with a focus on job preservation and creation. 14/

In 2021, the repurposing and repowering project at #Komati began to take shape. @Eskom_SA began installing demonstration projects for agri-voltaics and microgrid assembly, and investigated what capacities of PV, wind and battery that could be installed onsite. 15/

In May 2022, @Eskom_SA announced its intention to build an on-site training facility at #Komati, concretised through a partnership with @saretec to develop a renewable energy skills training facility to train workers & produce microgrids, which could employ 500 workers. 16/

In November 2022, the @WorldBank approved a $497 million project to support the decommissioning of #Komati, repurpose it with renewable energy, batteries, and synchronous condensers, and create opportunities for workers and communities. 17/

The repowering of #Komati includes 150 MW solar PV, 70 MW wind and 150 MW batteries, with capacity to be fed into the grid. 18/

The @WorldBank funded project is not part of the $8.5 billion Just Energy Transition Partnership (#JETP) between the South African government and five donor countries. 19/

There have been quite a few criticisms raised about the #Komati decommissioning process, including that consultations with workers & communities have been late and inadequate, absence of social justice and lack of a broader economic diversification strategy. 20/

#Komati has been promoted as a pilot case for South Africa’s #JustTransition, and we need to make a frank assessment of whether it really measures up to the #JustTransition framework. 21/

@ClimateZA visited the #Komati power station on 7 July 2023, in order to examine the process of decommissioning, repurposing, and stakeholder engagement, and make recommendations about how the process can be improved. 22/

@ClimateZA will issue a report with recommendations on the #Komati decommissioning following the next Commission meeting at the end of September 2023. Ends