ONE of the biggest announcements from last year’s COP26 climate talks was a pledge by some rich countries to provide $8.5-billion to help South Africa transition away from coal.
Now different interests within the country are tussling over how that money should be distributed.
Eskom Holdings, the embattled state-owned utility, is proposing that a substantial portion be used to expand the grid in order to encourage more investment in renewable electricity, according to people familiar with the situation.
If the money is allocated to Eskom and its projects, the people said, some of it would also be used to retire coal-fired power plants that account for more than 80% of South Africa’s electricity supply — the originally stated purpose of the deal funded by the US, UK, Germany, France and European Union.
They asked not be identified as the talks are private.
Those funds would also help cushion the economic hit to coal-dependent communities as the dirtiest fossil fuel
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