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South Africa generates 90 percent of its energy from burning coal
Photo: Waldo Swiegers / Bloomberg / Getty Images
It is a monstrous building made of concrete, two huge chimneys protrude from the barren landscape.
The Medupi coal-fired power station in South Africa only went fully online in August and is expected to supply the country with electricity for at least 50 years.
Numerous German companies contributed to this, the core of the power plant - the boiler - was financed with German loans from the KfW subsidiary IPEX.
The federal government helped out with a Hermes guarantee.
South Africa generates 90 percent of its energy from coal, the country has the ninth highest CO₂ emissions in the world.
A climate sinner who is at the same time directly confronted with the consequences of the climate crisis.
The droughts in South Africa are increasing, in 2018 the metropolis of Cape Town almost ran out of water.
But now the journey is going in a different direction.
Several countries, including Germany and the USA, announced on the sidelines of the UN climate summit in Glasgow: They want to support the coal phase-out in South Africa with more than seven billion euros, most of it in the form of loans.
The German Development Minister Gerd Müller announced that the money will be used to expand renewable energies in South Africa.
SPIEGEL spoke to raw materials expert Melanie Müller from the Science and Politics Foundation about the back and forth of German coal policy in South Africa.
SPIEGEL:
Ms. Müller,
South Africa gets 90 percent of its energy from coal.
Is an exit realistic?
Melanie Müller:
No,
not in the near future.
The country gets most of its electricity from coal, it has a number of coal-fired power plants, including the largest in the southern hemisphere.
South Africa is struggling with an energy crisis.
There are always massive power outages that also endanger economic development.
Therefore, the coal-fired power plants cannot be switched off quickly.
Two of the newly built power plants even have to run longer to make the investment worthwhile.
SPIEGEL:
The German development minister and the environment minister are talking about a complete phase-out of coal, with German support.
Müller
: It's a question of time.
These investments in renewable energy are absolutely right.
It is clear: South Africa needs massive investments, especially in infrastructure and electricity supply.
More renewables are urgently needed.
Because that means that old power plants can be switched off earlier.
But of course you also need energy security and South Africa doesn't have that.
That's why you have to dampen the euphoria a bit, because infrastructure development for renewable energies will also take time.
SPIEGEL:
Just a few weeks ago, a new coal-fired power plant went online - financed with German loans and guarantees from the federal government.
Now they want to provide millions so that South Africa gets out of coal.
That's absurd.
Müller:
Yes, such a power plant would certainly no longer have been financed today. These loans were granted in 2008, where we had a very different discussion. The problem with these giant projects is that you make a decision over a very long period of time. Such power plants have a certain lifespan, we are talking about several decades. South Africa is therefore discussing: How do we create a socially acceptable restructuring in the coal regions under these conditions? How do you get this conversion done without losing even more jobs? South Africa is already struggling with high unemployment, especially in rural areas.
SPIEGEL:
So is Germany facing the wrong decisions of the past?
In 2008, millions of dollars flowed into new coal-fired power plants in South Africa, now there are millions again to march in the opposite direction.
Müller:
Yes, and that doesn't just apply to Germany. It was an international consortium and ultimately the decision of the South African government to invest in these power plants. At the time, it was assumed that new power plants emit less CO₂, are more efficient and that old, ailing power plants can be disconnected from the grid. And now everyone is faced with this decision, which turned out to be wrong. And not only with a view to the climate issue, but also with a view to sustainability. The power plants cost far more money than planned. In addition, there are conflicts in the regions in which the power plants were built. These projects are massively controversial locally. And then it didn't even work to take the old power plants off the grid at the same time, because otherwise you can't cover the base load.It has to be said that the decisions were not implemented well.
SPIEGEL:
What are the consequences of these coal-fired power plants for local residents?
Müller: For a
short time there was a certain euphoria. There are not many jobs in these regions, so the jobs from the power plants come in very handy. People hope that local social conditions will improve. But that rarely happens, at least not for the majority of people. In addition, residents were forcibly relocated for the coal mines. Old mines are not rehabilitated or renatured. The wastewater contaminates the groundwater. Then new mines are added to supply the power plants and pollution continues to rise. This often has long-term health effects for local residents. Coal extraction produces coal dust, which contributes massively to air pollution.
SPIEGEL: In
recent years, Germany has also imported millions of tons of coal from South Africa to burn it in German power plants.
Did that contribute to the coal industry boom in South Africa?
Müller
: Many countries still get coal from South Africa. This is a contradiction in terms for Germany: We are going out of coal production, but then importing from other countries. But I would say that the South African government has the greatest responsibility. There is a lot of power involved, there was a huge interest within the ruling ANC party to continue to mine coal. Long-term plans for alternatives were not drawn up at an early stage. That has now changed a bit. President Cyril Ramaphosa set up a climate change commission last year and presented plans to support the expansion of renewable energies. This now needs the promised international funds. It comes later than it would have been useful for the world's climate. But at least it comes.But corruption remains a major problem, especially in the energy sector. The donors now have to check very carefully that the renewable energy projects are implemented quickly and efficiently without corruption. I'm very worried about that.
SPIEGEL:
So some of the promised funds could seep away?
Müller:
You have to look very critically.
Last year in South Africa, we also had the problem in the health sector that international corona aid funds were misappropriated.
And there has also been massive corruption at the state energy company Eskom in recent years.
That is well known.
There were reforms at Eskom, and people were fired for corruption.
The question now is: is that enough?
I don't think South Africa continues to have a massive corruption problem.
And of course it would be catastrophic if the money was not spent correctly when expanding renewable energies.
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