South Africa Will Burn Coal for a Very Long Time, Mantashe Says
The Eskom Kendal coal-fired power station in Mpumalanga, South Africa.
Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
South Africa’s energy minister said expecting a rapid transition from its dependence on coal-fired power generation to clean energy would be “very wrong,” and the nation will need to use the fossil fuel for longer to address an electricity shortage.
Gwede Mantashe’s reiteration of his view that coal will continue to play a vital role in South Africa’s energy mix comes as wealthy nations look for ways to invest in technologies that help decarbonize the country. Mantashe said clean-energy technologies that rely on intermittent factors like sunshine or wind are less reliable than coal plants that are able to run 24 hours a day.