Tshwane has boldly stated that it will use coal as baseload in its energy landscape moving forward. 

While cities globally are withdrawing from using fossil fuels to meet their net-zero carbon targets, Tshwane is recommissioning two traditionally coal-fired stations, Rooiwal and Pretoria West, the city announced during the inaugural Tshwane Energy Summit 2024 at the SunBet Arena, Times Square, in Pretoria from June 19 to 20.  

This forms part of the city’s plans to procure and generate at least 1 000 MW independent of state-run Eskom.

“We need energy solutions. We need them now. And we need them to be dispatchable,” said Lardo Stander, Chief Executive Officer of the Tshwane Economic Development Agency, which is working closely with the City of Tshwane on its energy generation programme. This means the city will continue to rely on coal for power generation, which is necessary to boost the economy and create employment. 

He said the Rooiwal power station had 10 to 12 years of operational life remaining, allowing it to serve Tshwane for at least another decade. The Pretoria West power station, which has reached the end of its life, will require significant rebuilding. “We might as well have an alternative power source there. But, for now, it’s how quickly we can get significant megawatts back onto our grid.” 

The Rooiwal coal-fired power station presents this opportunity and ability but as a transition mechanism, Stander said. “If we were to pursue a complete overhaul to an alternative model for the Rooiwal power station, we believe it could delay our energy generation capacity provision by two to three years.” 

Stander added that, in general, South Africa can’t afford to exclude technologies and that the City of Tshwane would not impose specific requirements on energy providers. “The Executive Mayor is clear that he doesn’t want to control the market. In our upcoming procurement plan and requests for proposals, we will not impose strict requirements. We want the market to inform us about what is feasible, at what cost and when they can supply power to our grid.” 

The road to net zero 

The city plans to mitigate its carbon generation with several initiatives as it embarks on its energy transition. This includes an ambitious target to plant 300 000 trees over the next three years, ongoing innovations in its green fleet and transport initiatives, implementing new green building by-laws, introducing clean cooking technology and delivering recycled water to communities – to name a few.  

“This shows not only our private stakeholders but also our communities that we are serious about reducing carbon emissions. But it cannot come at the expense of job losses or a reduction in economic growth,” Stander said.  

“We are the capital city of a country with 0% growth, 45% unemployment and 62% inequality. Any government that is serious about serving its people has to have these three challenges at the forefront of its strategy while working towards reducing carbon emissions.”