Eskom’s plan to shut down coal plants threatens SA’s electricity affordability

ESKOM, the country’s state-owned power utility, faces the difficult task of retiring nearly half of its coal-fired capacity; 22 000 megawatts (MW) out of 45 000 MW installed — casting uncertainty over reliable, affordable electricity for millions.

- THABO MAKWAKWA

Former Eskom CEO and Generation Head Matshela Koko warned that the plan to shutter coal plants risks doubling electricity tariffs. He calls this “reckless folly” driven not by fleet aging but by a “misguided agenda’

In 2021, Eskom formally aligned with the Just Energy Transition (JET) framework, pledging to retire nine coal-fired stations by 2035, halt investments in new coal infrastructure, and reject planned comebacks for mothballed plants.

This ambition reflected the 2019 Integrated Resource Plan's (IRP) projection to decommission about 11 000 MW of coal capacity by 2030.

A July 2025 Enerdata report reaffirmed Eskom’s intent to pivot toward clean energy sources by 2040, aiming to reduce the country’s reliance on coal. But this vision confronts harsh realities on the ground. Koko stated that disinvestment in coal plant maintenance between 2018 and 2023 triggered a “catastrophic grid collapse; spurring unprecedented load-shedding that scorched the economy and public confidence.

“The energy availability factor plummeted,” Koko explained in an exclusive IOL interview.