South Africa expands coal mine to feed power station for years

South Africa’s Exxaro Resources Ltd. opened the expansion of a coal mine at its Matla operations that will keep a nearby power station supplied for nearly two more decades.

The miner signed a contract last month with state-owned utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. to supply more than 9 million tons of coal annually to its Matla plant. The dirtiest fossil fuel will remain a significant source of energy as the use of wind, solar and gas technologies is increased, according to Caroline Shirindza, Exxaro’s executive head of coal.

“We continue mining coal while we also build on the renewables, so it’s not a matter of renewables versus coal,” she said in an interview at the mine. “We will be able to fulfill our core supply agreement to Eskom and give them the committed tons until 2043.”

South Africa still generates about 80% of its electricity from coal even as renewable stations are added to the grid. Eskom has extended the life of some plants that burn the fuel in order to meet demand.

The 3,600-megawatt Matla power station was brought fully online in 1983.

(By Bonolo Mokonoto)