Sarec again defends renewable energy programme in light of proposed coal station closures

The South African Renewable Energy Council (Sarec) on Thursday said that Eskom’s justifying the proposed closure of some its coal-fired power plants, in Mpumalanga, as being the result of signing power purchase agreements for new renewable energy projects, is misleading. “Coal plants have a limited life, as do the mines that feed them. Eskom’s generation licence requires these plants to be decommissioned as they reach the end of their design life and become too expensive to operate and maintain, so it is completely misleading to blame renewables for this natural process,” Sarec chairperson Brenda Martin stated.