South Africans have once again been called upon to use 10% less electricity, which had again highlighted how dependent the country is on Eskom’s coal-fired power stations. No matter what mitigation steps are taken, coal will remain essential to electricity production for decades to come.
In terms of sales value, coal was the most valuable mineral in South Africa and was essential not only for electricity generation and poverty alleviation but also steel, cement, transport fuels and chemicals.
Even if South Africa chose to implement the most aggressive decarbonising programme imaginable, its existing fleet of coal power stations would still have to be kept going.