Climate Politics
South Africa Needs $250 Billion to Transition Away From Coal
- Study lays out cost of renewable plants, grid infrastructure
- Money needed to compensate coal-dependent communities
The Eskom Matla coal-fired power station in Mpumalanga, South Africa.
Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
South Africa, the world’s 13th-biggest source of greenhouse gases, will need to spend $250 billion over the next three decades closing down its coal-fired power plants and replacing them with green energy, according to a study.
In addition to closing down the country’s coal-fired plants and building wind and solar power plants, money will need to be spent compensating coal-dependent communities whose livelihoods are threatened by the change, The Blended Finance Taskforce and the Centre for Sustainability Transitions at Stellenbosch University said. Most of the money will need to come from the private sector, according to the study.