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Eskom CEO Dan Marokane reports that a decision has been made to "decouple" the closure of its coal stations from the building, in partnership, of new renewable energy generation capacity linked to its goal of being a net-zero emitter by 2050 and the just energy transition strategy.
In an address to members of the South African National Energy Association, Marokane also revealed that a board decision had been made for Eskom to participate directly in renewables projects on land adjacent to its existing power stations rather than releasing those grid-ready sites to private generators.
He said the first such project was under way alongside the Lethabo power station, in the Free State, where Eskom was aiming to build a 75 MW solar PV facility. A tender, which closed on June 4, had been issued for a bidder to design, engineer, construct, commission and maintain the solar facility.
"We have had to do some rethinking in terms of the strategy that we may have articulated before and that is to decouple the implementation of renewables programme from the shutting down of power stations," he said, indicating that Eskom would be aiming to implement projects ahead of any closure.
The board had approved the Lethabo solar facility as the first project and there was an intention to pursue a similar strategy "alongside our existing fleet in Mpumalanga, in particular, on our land in close proximity to grid access".
He said the projects would be pursued in partnership with the private sector in a way that leveraged their expertise in a specific technology, as well as their balance sheets and skills.
Reflecting on his previous tenure at Eskom, Marokane said Eskom had developed a strategy to develop a sizeable renewables project pipeline in partnership with others, but the plan failed to secure the necessary approvals.
"We believe it's still possible [and], for that reason, we have adjusted the approach that we had taken to the market two years ago of availing the land adjacent to a power stations to others to implement renewable projects," he reported, highlighting that the properties would not face the grid-access constraints being experienced elsewhere.
The strategy is likely to raise questions about whether Eskom's renewables projects will crowd-out independent power producers from securing allocations outlined in the Integrated Resource Plan, or whether Eskom will be required to apply for an IRP exemption to proceed.
Questions will also be raised about whether the new generation will need to replace the equivalent coal generation capacity to secure concessional Just Energy Transition Partnership funding.
Regarding the just transition, Marokane argued that the new approach would help Eskom manage the transition away from coal such that the new generation was commissioned ahead of closures, so as to avoid the problems that arose at Komati where alternatives for workers and communities were not in place at the time of retirement.
"So we going down that route and we have approved that path," he said, indicating the intention was to replicate the Lethabo project across other sites.
He also reported that Eskom had secured an environmental impact assessment authorisation for the Tubatse pumped-hydro project and that "we have every intention to go ahead".
On how Eskom Holdings' subsidiary, the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA), would fund and implement its ambitious expansion of the transmission grid, Marokane said a model for introducing private sector finance and skills was close to being finalised.
Announcements in this regard would be made once the NTCSA began operating as an independent entity in July.

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Eskom CEO Dan Marokane has rebuffed persistent suggestions that the utility is keeping loadshedding at bay owing to an "excessive" reliance on the diesel-fuelled open cycle gas turbines, reporting that it spent R285-million on diesel during May compared with R2.8-billion in the same month last year and against a budget for the month of R1.7-billion.
Addressing the South African National Energy Association AGM against a backdrop of deep suspicion about how Eskom has managed to avoid resorting to rotational power cuts for 71 days, including over a highly competitive election period, Marokane attributed the stabilisation to the Generation Recovery Plan, which had been under way since March 2023.
"Over the last three weeks I have been hearing commentary about a sudden performance shift, [or] that there's a dramatic improvement.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm an engineer myself, and nothing around these systems happens in a dramatic way," Marokane, who will mark 100 days in office this week, said.
Instead, he argued that the improvement in the coal fleet's performance was the result of the diligent execution by Eskom employees and original-equipment manufacturers of the interventions outlined in the recovery plan, underpinned by the financial certainty that flowed from the R254-billion debt-relief package extended by the National Treasury.
The performance had been bolstered further by the support Eskom had received from the private partners participating in workstream one of the National Energy Crisis Committee, as well as that from government leaders and officials.
Unplanned breakdowns, Marokane said, had been below 12 000 MW for the past two weeks and had recently dipped below 10 000 MW; a level well beneath the 15 500 MW that Eskom indicated in its winter outlook would trigger Stage 2 loadshedding.
He cautioned, however, that putting "this monster of loadshedding behind us" will require the building of new capacity by the private generators and Eskom, while indicating that Eskom itself had plans to participate more directly in adding renewable-energy and pumped-storage capacity.
Eskom would pursue these projects in partnership with the private sector and had also "decoupled" the projects from the decommissioning of the coal stations, the schedule for which had been extended because of supply shortfalls and to allow for greater community consultation.

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Renowned and outspoken business personality Reuel Khoza has urged South Africa's political leadership currently negotiating the governance arrangements that should be implemented following an election in which no single party secured a majority, to be guided primarily by "the common good".
Speaking at the release of the Centre for Development and Enterprise's 'Agenda 2024', outlining possible priorities for the new government once formed, Khoza described South Africans as bewildered and anxious, while bemoaning those who had led South Africa to "this painful juncture".
South Africa, he said, had veered from being a "harbinger of a bright future" to one that had joined "other behind-the-curve laggards".
"The question is, what happened?
"My submission is that the country was hijacked by bad leadership; leadership that is characterised by incompetence, that's unethical, intemperate, careless, corrupt, and at times, downright uncaring and evil.
"Among such leaders, we have betrayers of our world-acclaimed Constitution and saboteurs of the institutional forms that underpin our democracy," he said.
In 2012, Khoza raised the ire of the governing African National Congress (ANC) when, as Nedbank chairperson at the time, he slammed their political leadership, saying their "moral quotient is degenerating, and we are fast losing the checks and balances that are necessary to prevent a recurrence of the past".
He also questioned the capacity of the government, then led by President Jacob Zuma - whose Umkhonto Wesizwe Party (MKP) secured more than 14% of the national vote and about 45% of the KwaZulu-Natal provincial vote in 2024, precipitating the ANC's slump to 40% from 57% in 2019 - as well as its faithfulness to the Constitution. The MKP's election manifesto commits the party to move the country "away from constitutional supremacy toward unfettered parliamentary supremacy" and to holding a referendum to scrap the 1996 Constitution.
Both the ANC and government took strong exception to Khoza's statement, calling into question Khoza's transformation performance at the bank and whether he was seeking to collapse the very employment-equity ladder on which he had ascended himself.
In his address on June 5, Khoza underlined the importance of visionary and ethical and effective leadership in navigating the immediate perils of coalition building and in driving an agenda in the interest of the common good.
"We yearn for a leadership that is visionary, and as passionate as it is compassionate."
He also stressed that South Africa was a political economy in a global context and, thus, urged the leadership to "do nothing that will frighten foreign direct investment (FDI) and cause capital flight".
Separately, Business Unity South Africa has urged political leaders to accept the election results and to prioritise the crafting of stable governance arrangements underpinned by a commitment to the Constitution, while Business Leadership South Africa has called for a governance arrangement that is both stable and supportive of fiscal prudence and reform.
Standard Bank CEO Sim Tshabalala, meanwhile, expressed confidence in the ability of South Africa's institutions to restore stability and even suggested that there could be a market rally once there was certainty, while refraining from commenting on the bank's preferred coalition arrangement, which he said was "irrelevant".
Likewise, Nedbank CFO Mike Davis would not be drawn on the bank's preferred outcome, but said it was vital that the coalitions that emerged were effective and structured in such a way as to be supportive of improved service delivery.
"The voting base has made it very clear to political parties that they want service delivery . . . and the politicians now need to get together and make this work," Davis said, warning that a poor coa

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The Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE) has released a list of five priorities for South Africa's yet-to-be-formed new government and which the think tank also argues should help guide ongoing coalition negotiations.
The priorities have been canvassed with various business, academic and civil-society stakeholders and have been packaged into what CDE has dubbed 'Agenda 2024', and include:
Fixing the State, by reorganisation of the Cabinet and the Presidency such that the "right people" are appointed into senior positions within government, most notably at the level of directors-general;
Driving growth and development by freeing up markets and competition, including by attracting investors, addressing backlogs in electricity and logistics, tackling criminality on construction sites and using public-private partnerships in a way that does not prop up failing State monopolies;
Building a new approach to mass inclusion that drives transformation in a manner supportive of mass empowerment rather than elite enrichment by incentivising low-skilled employment and redirecting funds from government to the private sector to expand opportunities for black entrepreneurs;
Dealing with the fiscal crisis by eschewing unaffordable programmes such as National Health Insurance and a Basic Income Grant and redirecting spending away from failed or ineffective programmes towards growth enhancing activities; and
Strengthening the rule of law through the successful prosecution of high-profile corrupt actors and reforming the criminal justice system to strengthen the quality and independence of the judiciary, including by overhauling the Judicial Service Commission.
During a virtual launch, executive director Ann Bernstein described Agenda 2024 as an urgent reform programme for dealing with the country's most pressing challenges in a way that could arrest South African's "terminal decline".
She also argued that the current negotiations for a new governing arrangement should not be only about power, politics and positions.
"These discussions need to go beyond what a new government will look like and include what this new government will do once in office," she argued.
In a forthright opening address, leading business personality Reuel Khoza also underlined the importance of visionary and ethical leadership in navigating the immediate political perils of coalition building and in driving an agenda in the interest of the common good.
Khoza bemoaned the hijacking of the South African vision of 1994 by corrupt, unethical and incompetent leaders, including "betrayers of our world-acclaimed Constitution and saboteurs of the institutional forms that underpin our democracy".
"We yearn for a leadership that is visionary, and as passionate as it is compassionate.
South Africa is a political economy in a global context [and] the leadership that we seek should do nothing that will frighten foreign direct investment and cause capital flight."

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While refusing to be drawn on what coalition arrangement would be favourable for investment, Standard Bank CEO Sim Tshabalala has expressed confidence in the ability of South Africa's institutions to navigate the prevailing post-election uncertainty and ensure stability and even a market rally.
Responding to questions following a speech delivered at a S&P Global Ratings conference in Johannesburg, Tshabalala indicated that the outcome of the election, which saw the African National Congress (ANC) slump to 40% of the vote from 57%, had been a scenario to which the bank had assigned a 20% probability ahead of the May 29 poll.
He, thus, questioned the "shock and surprise" that had arisen subsequently. This, even though a 60% probability was attached to a scenario where the ANC would garner between 43% and 47% of the vote, which would have probably been sufficient to enable it to form a coalition government with a handful of small parties.
Speaking against a backdrop of objections and even thinly veiled threats by Jacob Zuma's Umkhonto Wesizwe Party, which secured more than 14% of the national vote and about 45% of the KwaZulu-Natal provincial vote, Tshabalala said "I do think that will have stability".
Institutions, including the Electoral Commission of South Africa, were all performing their functions, and while there were challenges to the results, these were being lodged through the correct channels and could be adjudicated in the courts, he argued.
"[South Africa] has had ten elections since 1980. Of those ten elections, eight have been followed by a rally in equities, in the bond market and in currencies and the data supports the view that we may see the same happening this time," Tshabalala added.
GEOPOLITICAL UPSIDE?
He used his formal address, meanwhile, to outline the upside possibilities for South Africa in a geopolitical context where the the US and China "settle into a stable equilibrium of serious - but peaceful - competition". Such as scenario was not without risk, but was based on indications that both countries were aware of their mutual dependence and the dangers created by their rivalry.
"Sensible middle powers see that a world with two superpowers in stable competition creates more options than a unipolar world," Tshabalala said, pointing to countries such as France, Germany, Singapore and even Australia as examples of countries also seeking to steer a middle commercial path.
Neither superpower, he argued, was expecting mid-sized neutral countries such as South Africa to sign up as a formal ally.
"In general, when South Africa hews consistently to its usual stance of non-alignment, multilateralism and commitment to human rights, then it is at very little risk of attracting adverse attention from either the United States or China."
However, the patience and tolerance of superpowers was not infinite and, while recent US Congressional bills and letters on US-South Africa trade relations were unlikely to lead to legislation, they were definite warning signals.
"[Nevertheless], if South Africa continues to make the right policy choices, the current geopolitical setup will favour our economic development, and that of Africa as a whole.
"This is not hot air - our corporate and investment banking pipelines are full of infrastructure projects funded by the US and by China.
"So, all in all, far from being fearful, I think our current geopolitical era creates very exciting prospects for our country and our continent," Tshabalala concluded.

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IT and AI company Suppple in May witnessed its £200-million initial public offering (IPO) on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE) in Europe.
Suppple will be required to comply with LuxSE rules and regulations in the coming months for the listing to be definitive.
For cofounder Professor Eldrid Jordaan it has been a full circle from his days as a youngster on the Cape Flats as the son of a civic-minded trade unionist, to the board of Mxit, and on to the formation of GovChat, to this, his newest venture - the development of an application-programming-interface-driven chatbot platform for businesses, governments and large institutions.
In simple terms, the platform enables businesses and governments to build and deploy chatbots and interactive conversational experiences.
A data visualisation platform can also rapidly digitise processes and automate workflows.
Mxit was a multimillion-user free instant messaging application - Whatsapp before Whatsapp existed.
GovChat was a platform the South African government used to engage citizens during the Covid-19 pandemic.
It facilitated real-time communication, supporting more than 10-million users with access to health updates, social relief applications and government services.
Cocreated with the South African government, GovChat's focus was focused on quick and easy access, explains Jordaan.
Users did not need to download a new app, but could access GovChat via existing chat apps, such as WhatsApp.
Founders Goitse Konopi and Jordaan had to consider the type of phones South Africans used, the limited space and data on these phones, and the preloaded apps available on a typical South African's phone, thereby ensuring GovChat's success.
"It was the largest single global civic engagement platform," says Jordaan.
In recognition of his work, Jordaan was named a professor of practice in 2022 by the University of Johannesburg's business school.
Konopi and Jordaan have since left GovChat to create a new entity - Suppple, the three Ps indicating a focus on private-public partnerships.
Registered in the UK and based in London and Cape Town, the focus is on creating ever-widening social impact, says Jordaan.
"The roots are in GovChat, but this is an entirely different and new technology."
"We always knew we were going to list outside the JSE first," explains Jordaan. "We want access to the global financial markets because, when you observe the technology landscape, tech companies listed in South Africa are rarely recognized on a global scale. Additionally, Luxembourg's AAA rating makes it an attractive option."
What remains the same as the GovChat days, however, is Jordaan's focus on using technology for the greater good.
For example, GS1 is a global, non-profit issuer of barcodes, based in Belgium. Along with GS1 South Africa and the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa, Suppple's technology plays a pivotal role in the verification and tracking of products in South Africa.
This not only enhances supply-chain transparency, but also combats fake and unsafe goods, as well as illicit traders working to bypass the tax man.
On a global level, the partnership between GS1 and Suppple supports the scanning and verification of more than 500-billion products globally, with 10-billion products scanned daily across 115 countries.
This system has helped uncover illegal trade activities valued between R100-billion and R1-trillion.
"Think what this technology will be able to do at South African border posts for the South African Revenue Service in uncovering fake goods?" says Jordaan. "A simple smartphone can scan any product and verify its barcode and origin."
Other applications of Suppple technology include the enhancement of business process outsourcing services in South Africa, Kenya and Columbia with customised call-centre solutions.
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