MEDIA STATEMENT
BY
DEPUTY MINISTER OF ELECTRICTY AND ENERGY, ALEXANDRA ABRAHAMS
TO ALL MEDIA AND NEWS EDITORS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday 19 August 2026
Just Energy Transition pilot projects underway at Grootvlei coal power station in Mpumalanga
Deputy Minister of Electricity and Energy, Alexandra Abrahams, met yesterday with the management of the Eskom Grootvlei Power Station in Mpumalanga. Grootvlei is the site of a range of innovative pilot projects that aim to advance the Just Energy Transition in South Africa in an inclusive and responsible manner.
Deputy Minister Abrahams said: “The Just Energy Transition Framework demands a proactive approach to ensure that the transformation of the energy sector in South Africa is inclusive and to the benefit of the sector and the country as a whole. Grootvlei Power Station is providing important examples of how this can be achieved in practice.”
As Grootvlei Power Station’s role in South Africa’s electricity system evolves, increasing attention is being placed on how the site can be repurposed to support new forms of energy generation and economic activity. Central to this work is ensuring that the transition creates new opportunities for workers and the surrounding community, including through investment in cleaner energy technologies, new industries and the productive reuse of existing infrastructure. The objective must be to position Grootvlei for its next chapter as an energy and economic hub that can support employment, investment and local development.
A range of projects are being pursued to reposition Grootvlei as an integrated energy, industrial and agricultural hub, with significant potential to reskill current employees while creating new employment and economic opportunities for surrounding communities. Among these is the Grootvlei Climate Smart Horticulture Centre, a high-tech hydroponic greenhouse created by collaborative partnership between Eskom and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which has already been established and is producing its first harvests.
Grootvlei is also being positioned to remain an important site for electricity generation through a proposed 195 MW solar photovoltaic project, alongside battery energy storage manufacturing and other technologies. Eskom is further assessing the use of Circulating Fluidised Bed Combustion (CFBC) technology, which can use a wider range of fuels more efficiently while reducing certain emissions compared with conventional coal generation, with an initial 200 MW project proposed for Grootvlei.
Together, these projects point towards a diversified future for the site, combining new generation capacity with industrial, agricultural and skills-development opportunities that can support jobs and economic activity well beyond the power station itself.
Deputy Minister Abrahams added: “As we pursue our dual priorities of bringing electricity prices down and expanding access to electricity, it is important that communities that rely on jobs in the energy sector are taken along into the future of the industry. The projects that are planned at Grootvlei, and especially the lessons that can be learned from those that are already being implemented, demonstrate how the transition of an existing power station can be used to stimulate new industries, develop skills and create sustainable economic activity in communities historically dependent on coal generation as we continue the Just Energy Transition.”
MEDIA ENQUIRES:
Deputy Minister of Electricity and Energy, Alexandra Abrahams, 083 261 8788
DMAbrahams@dee.gov.za
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICITY AND ENERGY OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA