‘Lessons learnt in decommissioning of Komati power plant’

File image: Aerial view of Komati Power Station.

2 minutes

Eskom General Manager for Just Transition, Dr Vikesh Rajpaul says the power utility has learnt a lot from the decommissioning of the Komati Power Station in Mpumalanga.

Speaking to SABC News at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, Rajpaul says Eskom is in the process of re-purposing the station into green energy production.

Residents of the area in the formal and informal economy were left destitute after the closing down of the plant.

Rajpaul says many jobs will be created but some experts say the number of new jobs will not match the capacity lost before the closure of the station.

He says, “We are doing environmental assessments on the wind plant, and from a repurposing perspective, we have already established assembly lines for us to manufacture containerised microgrids.”

“We’ve established training centres at Komati to assist us Eskom employees as well as community members in training and things like welding, solar mounting, solar PV, that is mounting an escalation.”

Rajpaul adds, “We’re in the process, we’re quite advanced with the wind turbine technician course as well, and we’ve provided a number of opportunities and training courses for both community members, Eskom employees, as well as our contractors.”