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Grootvlei power station is an operating power station of at least 600-megawatts (MW) in Grootvlei, Gert Sibande, Mpumalanga, South Africa with multiple units, some of which are not currently operating.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Plant name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| Grootvlei power station | Grootvlei, Gert Sibande, Mpumalanga, South Africa | -26.768494, 28.497758 (exact) |
The map below shows the exact location of the power station.
Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):
- Unit 1, Unit 2, Unit 3, Unit 4, Unit 5, Unit 6: -26.768494, 28.497758
Project Details
Table 2: Unit-level details
| Unit name | Status | Fuel(s) | Capacity (MW) | Technology | Start year | Retired year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | operating | coal - bituminous | 200 | subcritical | 1973 | 2027 (planned) |
| Unit 2 | operating | coal - bituminous | 200 | subcritical | 1970 | 2027 (planned) |
| Unit 3 | operating | coal - bituminous | 200 | subcritical | 1969 | 2027 (planned) |
| Unit 4 | mothballed | coal - bituminous | 200 | subcritical | 1969 | 2025 (planned) |
| Unit 5 | mothballed | coal - bituminous | 190 | subcritical | 1971 | 2025 (planned) |
| Unit 6 | mothballed | coal - bituminous | 200 | subcritical | 1977 | 2025 (planned) |
Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details
| Unit name | Owner |
|---|---|
| Unit 1 | Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd (Eskom) [100.0%] |
| Unit 2 | Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd (Eskom) [100.0%] |
| Unit 3 | Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd (Eskom) [100.0%] |
| Unit 4 | Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd (Eskom) [100.0%] |
| Unit 5 | Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd (Eskom) [100.0%] |
| Unit 6 | Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd (Eskom) [100.0%] |
Background
The Grootvlei Power Station is a coal-fired station owned by the South African publicly-owned electricity utility Eskom, located at Balfour, Mpumalanga. The power station consists of six units of approximately 200 MW each. The first unit was commissioned in 1969, and the last in 1977. Three of Grootvlei's units were mothballed in 1989 and the rest in 1990. Eskom recommissioned three units in each of 2008 and 2009.[1] Unit 5 was re-optimised to full capacity and reclassified from 160 MW to 190 MW in April 2013.[2]
In March 2017, Eskom said that it would hold meetings with the government and labour to discuss its plans to decommission five power stations over the next five years: Komati Power Station, Hendrina Power Station, Kriel Power Station, Grootvlei Power Station, and Camden Power Station. Eskom said the stations were old and unneeded, given the country's plans for new power capacity by independent power producers (IPPs).[3] The plant's six units were planned for retirement by 2020.[4]
In 2017, two older coal-fired units from Eskom's Grootvlei Power Station, one older unit from Eskom's Hendrina Power Station, and two older units from Eskom's Komati Power Station were placed into cold reserve because their running costs were higher than other units. A government spokesman said that the old stations were expected to remain uneconomical to run, even if refurbished, compared to renewable energy IPP power options and the company's newer stations at Medupi and Kusile.[5]
In May 2020, it was reported that Eskom had changed its plans on closing the Grootvlei plant as well as its Camden and Hendrina plants. These plants, which were scheduled to close between 2020 and 2026, would now stay open until 2030.[6] Eskom subsequently changed the closure date to 2025.[7]
In October 2021, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment granted Eskom with positive environmental compliance postponement decisions for Grootvlei as it was scheduled to shut down.[8]
At the beginning of 2022, South Africa dealt with major loadshedding power outages due to failing Eskom infrastructure. The Grootvlei plant is among those cited for contributing to the depletion of emergency reserves.[9]
In December 2022, it was reported that the government had deployed members of the South African National Defence Force to Grootvlei, Majuba, Camden, and Tutuka power stations in response to theft and vandalism at the plants.[10]
In July 2023, a boiler room fire put Unit 2 out of action pending repairs.[11] The unit was back online by early August. [12]
Just Energy Transition plans
In November 2020, the World Bank Group invited expressions of interest from consultants to assess the implications of retiring the Camden, Hendrina, Grootvlei, and Komati coal plants. The consultant were to look at the technical, environmental, socioeconomic, and financial implications of decommissioning the plants to help inform the WBG’s future engagement with South Africa.[13]
Eskom was looking at options for repurposing the plants with the core aims of “reusing existing power transmission infrastructure, developing new generation capacity, providing ancillary services, and mitigating socioeconomic impact. In addition to conversion to gas or use of the site for renewable generation or battery storage, parts of the infrastructure can be used for ancillary services such as frequency and voltage control and inertia. It launched a request for information in May 2020 following an internal technical review.”[13][14]
As of August 2021, a repowering and repurposing project similar to developments at the Komati Power Station was planned at the Grootvlei plant, now scheduled for closure by 2025.[7][15]
In July 2022, Eskom announced that South Africa would be collaborating with the Netherlands on repurposing the facility. A pre-feasibility study was underway.[16]
In November 2022, Eskom stated at the COP27 conference that €10 million from German development bank KfW had been secured for the development of a renewable energy training facility at the site. According to Eskom's CEO, there were about 16,000 vacancies in the wind and solar industries because people had not yet been trained for those roles.[17]
According to an article from December 2022, Eskom would release a report describing the "detailed mitigation and implementation plan" for the Grootvlei power station and invite public comments "early next year." The same article noted that some employees at the power plant were concerned about uncertainty stemming from the Just Energy Transition process and were unaware of what the skills training would entail.[18]
In June 2023, Eskom and the Netherlands signed a new letter of intent (LOI) to collaborate on "‘Just’ initiatives" as the Grootvlei power station "transitions from coal generation into a renewable energy hub."[19]
In October 2023, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) called on the South Africa government to suspend the Just Energy Transition Partnership.[20] The NUM, which is the largest union representing staff employed by Eskom, said in a statement that they wanted "further consultations on the transition plan because of the threat it poses to as many as 51,000 jobs."[21] In the wake of the NUM's call, the Electricity Minister said no more Eskom coal plants would be closed to be replaced by renewables,[22] a change of course on repowering and repurposing plans reported in August 2021.[7]
In November 2023, the South African government approved the US$8.8 billion Just Energy Transition Investment Plan. The final deal was expected to be revealed at the upcoming COP28 climate conference. South Africa's Minister for Forestry, Fisheries and Environment said that part of the funding would support initiatives in Mpumalanga province, which is "currently heavily dependent on coal."[23]
Possible delay in retirement
In March 2023, the Minister of Electricity reportedly visited the Grootvlei power station and told workers there that "Grootvlei is an important player in the resolution of load shedding. We are searching for the megawatts and Grootvlei's life can’t be up to 2027 because this country’s future goes beyond 2027." [24]
In April 2023, it was reported that the Minister of Electricity had proposed to delay the retirement of some of Eskom's older coal-fired plants to help alleviate the country's energy crisis. [25] Energy analysts have reportedly warned that extending the life of aging coal plants in South Africa was likely to jeopardize access to the US$8.5 billion Just Energy Transition funding aimed at accelerating renewable energy projects in the country.[26]
According to reports from May 2023, South African president Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed that planned retirements of coal plants would slow down. He reportedly stated that the government could not "run away" from decommissioning aging power plants, but that "the timetable and scheduling of decommissioning must be relooked at."[27] Standard Chartered, one of the largest lenders in Africa, reportedly warned that government plans to extend the life of Eskom's coal plants would make attracting investment to South Africa harder, as investors would be wary of being trapped in stranded fossil fuel assets.[28]
As of October 2023, the South African government was reviewing their 2019 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) and expecting to release an updated IRP before the end of the year. During the review, it was reportedly proposed that coal plant decommissioning dates scheduled for before 2030 be delayed until 2030 and later.[29] A study by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) published in October 2023 estimated that postponing decommissioning until after 2030 would cause 15,300 excess air pollution-related deaths.[29]
Articles and Resources
References
- ↑ "National Response to South Africa's Electricity Shortage", South African government, January 2008
- ↑ "Eskom Generation and Transmission Expansion Plans," Presentation by Andrew Etzinger, Senior General Manager of Eskom, March 2013
- ↑ "NUM goes to war over proposed Eskom power station closures," Mining Weekly, March 29, 2017
- ↑ "Eskom starts shutting down old coal power plants," Fin24, March 1 2019
- ↑ Tebogo Tshwane, "Jobs Issue Plagues Green Energy," Mail&Guardian, May 18, 2018
- ↑ South Africa may forces Eskom to halt two units at 3.5 GW Kendal coal-fired plant Enerdata, May 20, 2020
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "South Africa's Eskom plans sharp reduction of coal-fired power by 2031," Reuters, August 17, 2021
- ↑ “Eskom to engage on way forward after being denied permission to delay air-quality compliance,” Engineering News, December 14, 2021
- ↑ “'It's very severe' - Alarming chunk of Eskom capacity is down as load shedding hits again,” News24, October 8, 2021
- ↑ "Troop Deployment To Eskom Power Plants In Full Force, Says Sandf," Eyewitness News, December 20, 2022
- ↑ "Fire at Grootvlei will not impact load shedding schedule - Eskom," news24, July 22, 2023
- ↑ "Electricity minister upbeat after Grootvlei’s Unit 2 back online after fire damage," IOL, August 6, 2023
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 “South Africa: Consultants sought for coal plant repurposing,” Africa Energy, November 25, 2020
- ↑ "Eskom moves to finalise just energy transition framework as shutdown of Grootvlei, Komati and Hendrina draws near," Engineering News, November 17, 2020
- ↑ "Eskom to retire 8-12GW of coal-fired power generation by 2031," NS Energy, August 8, 2021
- ↑ "Netherlands to Collaborate With Eskom on Coal Site Conversion," Bloomberg, July 28, 2022
- ↑ "Eskom secures R180m for new training facility at Grootvlei power station - De Ruyter," News24, November 17, 2022
- ↑ "Eskom workers: ‘We’re in the dark about just transition plans’," Mail & Guardian, December 9, 2022
- ↑ "Eskom and the Kingdom of the Netherlands sign letter of intent to collaborate on the development and implementation of ‘Just’ initiatives to support job creation and community upliftment around Grootvlei Power Station," Eskom, June 21, 2023
- ↑ "NUM demands a lengthy delay in the implementation of just energy transition," National Union of Mineworkers, October 2, 2023
- ↑ "Largest labour union at Eskom calls to suspend climate finance pact," News24, October 2, 2023
- ↑ "Eskom will not shut down more coal power stations, says Ramokgopa," Business Day, October 3, 2023
- ↑ "SA's shift from coal won't worsen debt burden and puts justice first, says Creecy," News24, November 24, 2023
- ↑ "Electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa to push for extending life of ageing coal-fired power station," Daily Maverick, March 30, 2023
- ↑ "Ramaphosa calls urgent Cabinet meeting to discuss new plan for old coal power stations," News24, April 19, 2023
- ↑ "Eskom chair Mpho Makwana says SA needs to decarbonise fast," News24, April 21, 2023
- ↑ "Ramaphosa confirms SA will slow down its decommissioning of coal-fired power plants," IOL, May 11, 2023
- ↑ "Standard Chartered Warns on Extending Use of Coal Plants in South Africa, Business Day Says," Bloomberg, May 14, 2023
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 "Health impacts of delaying coal power plant decommissioning in South Africa," Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, October 24, 2023
Additional data
To access additional data, including an interactive map of coal-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.
