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Andre, hi.
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Tell us, if you would,
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about Eskom's Just Energy Transition.
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So the Eskom Just Energy Transition is an integral part
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of our corporate strategy.
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We need to build new generation capacity,
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we need to decarbonize,
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we need to solve South Africa's electricity crisis
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by adding as much capacity as we can as quickly as we can,
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as affordably as we can,
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which leads us to the really large scale rollout
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of new renewable energy generation capacity.
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But we have to bear in mind that currently,
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about 91% of the electricity
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that we generate comes from coal fired plants.
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Our plants are old.
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They are on average 41 years old
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and they have had a very hard life.
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So we are going to accelerate
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the retirement of these plants.
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And of course, all of this change
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creates a tremendous amount of anxiety
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amongst those who've invested in the coal value chain.
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So what we need to do is
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to take the inevitable energy transition
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and make sure that it is just to those communities
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that have invested generations of sweat equity
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into coal as a commodity.
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We can't just put a padlock on the gate and walk away.
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We have to really work at enabling the transition
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as a just one.
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How are you calming that anxiety?
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What actions are you taking?
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Two things.
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I think we need to communicate.
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You can never communicate enough
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and I don't think we have communicated enough.
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We need to do more of that.
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But then you also need to deliver.
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You need to actually have proof points on the ground
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of people gainfully employed in new green technologies.
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If you don't do either of those,
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then you will inevitably give rise to a lot of suspicion,
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a lot of concerns that are legitimate,
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and you need to keep on plugging away at this.
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How should South Africa be collaborating
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with the global community for a Just Energy Transition?
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What we are offering, I think,
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is an opportunity to act as the laboratory
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for some of these ideas.
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Our flagship Just Energy Transition project,
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our Komati power station,
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which was finally shut down on the 31st of October
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after having served South Africa for more than 60 years.
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It breathed its last breath.
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That is where we want to repurpose,
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and repower, and also retrain.
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What we're finding is that the global community
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are coming to us wanting to learn about how to do this.
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Now, I won't proclaim to have any specific wisdom
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in this regard.
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We are learning by doing,
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but I think the fact
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that we are right at the cutting edge
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of implementing these changes
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also gives us an advantage
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to attract a lot of concessional financing.
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Just for Komati,
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we have obtained from the World Bank
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and the Climate Investment Fund
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just under a billion dollars in concessional financing.
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So that, I think, is an indication
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that people are very keen
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to support this type of initiative.
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What can the world learn from South Africa's experience
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and how can South Africa
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or how do you see South Africa
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collaborating with the global community
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to accelerate this change?
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I think we are very keen to collaborate
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because we are not in competition with one another.
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Carbon is a global phenomenon
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and the idea that we are putting forward is
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that the developing world offers the best opportunity
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for decarbonizing the global economy.
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To mitigate a ton of carbon in South Africa
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is a 10th of the cost of emitting
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an equivalent ton of carbon in Germany, for example.
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So our calling card to the global community is to say,
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come to South Africa
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where your tax euros will get bigger bang for buck
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than by decarbonizing the last ton in Germany.
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Now, it's a slightly controversial argument
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and there are all local interests
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and political interests involved,
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but I think we are getting the traction
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and we are getting the support that we are looking for.
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And finally,
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how do you see the power sector evolving in Africa?
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I see, as the chief executive
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of the incumbent monolithic monopolist,
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we are going to unbundle
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specifically in order to attract
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more private sector generation capacity.
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We are going to see a significant decarbonization.
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We plan to retire 22 gigawatts
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of coal-fired capacity by 2035,
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which is just under half of our coal fleet.
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That'll remove about a hundred million tons of carbon
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from the atmosphere every year.
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And we are going to see the trends of decarbonization,
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democratization, digitalization become very important
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in enabling this transition to take place.
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So it's very exciting to see a new industry being born,
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as it were.
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Andre, thank you so much.
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Thank you.