In January 2024, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy released the long-awaited update to its integrated resource plan (IRP2023). The update is available for public comment and can be downloaded by clicking here.

The Department acknowledges that load shedding, which results from inadequate generating capacity being available to meet demand, has to be addressed urgently, but predicts that load shedding may be with uis until 2030.

To address the economic damage and personal hardship load shedding has, and continues to cause, the Department proposes a set of short-term (2024-2030) and longer-term (2031-2050) interventions:

Short-term interventions

• The improvement of Eskom’s energy availability factor (EAF) from 50% to 70% or higher through the power utility’s Generation Recovery Plan
• Accelerate the deployment of dispatchable generation options such as gas-to-power
• Delay the shutting down of existing coal-fired power plants
• Develop the transmission grid to enable the connection of additional generation capacity
• Ensure that Koeberg's operational life is extended to avoid the loss of 1800 MW capacity
• Extend the exemption from the country's minimum emissions standards for Eskom power plants to avoid the loss of up to 30 000 MW by 2025

In the longer term, the Department proposes:

• A significant build-up of Solar PV, Wind, and Gas by 2035
• Continued delayed shutdown of coal-fired plants
• Investment in clean coal and carbon capture and utilisation technologies

The plan can best be understood by studying the table below.

The updated plan can be downloaded by clicking here.