Eskom research can drive green energy future, says minister

The Minister of Electricity and Energy, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, says Eskom’s research and development capabilities can help position the power utility for a green and prosperous future.

Ramokgopa made the remarks during a site visit to Eskom’s Research, Testing and Development (RT&D) Centre in Johannesburg.

He said greater investment in research and development would help Eskom become a leader in technology innovation.

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“We really want to position Eskom as a leader in terms of technology innovation, so there’s a lot of investment that needs to be made in terms of research and development.

“The real advantage that Eskom has is in research, development, innovation and technology going into the future. In this area we are unmatched, and we are beginning to position ourselves.

“We will look to invest more and more of the earnings that Eskom is recording so that we go back to the glory days and, in fact, surpass those,” Ramokgopa said.

Eskom’s RT&D Centre enables the utility to test, validate and scale solutions for its immediate operational needs and the future electricity landscape.

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One of the key challenges is meeting emissions standards at Eskom’s coal-fired power stations.

“Several projects are active and live in this facility, but what is more important is for us to experience for ourselves how we are going to reduce … emission levels at our power stations. The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has issued those regulations, and we have every intention of complying.

“Other jurisdictions, like China and Japan, are far advanced with [emission-reducing] technology, but we are happy to have experienced first-hand that, in fact, we are also doing it.

“We have not reached commercial scale, but they are getting there slowly. The positive outcome of this is that we will be able to continue to exploit our natural endowments, which is coal as part of the broader [energy] mix and that we can meet our obligations about emission standards, and we can protect lives in the immediate footprint of our various coal-fired power stations,” the Minister said.

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Ramokgopa said government would “look to partner with other technology partners that are further advanced”, to bring those solutions into South Africa to reduce emissions.

However, he said Eskom’s technological ambitions extend beyond meeting emissions requirements.

“Eskom must also be able to position itself to exploit our renewable energy endowments, and that’s why Eskom Green has been established.

“We are looking at opportunities concerning green hydrogen. Part of the work that the team is doing is to do a degree of research on that.

“We are on the right path,” Ramokgopa said.