JOHANNESBURG (DPA) – South Africa is out of power in large parts. Just days after a German investment package was announced to support South Africa’s exit from coal-fired power generation, the Cape State is groaning under nationwide power cuts.

To prevent a nationwide blackout, state energy supplier Eskom announced on Sunday that it would have to take the entire region off the grid for a week. He justified it with an overload of the network. A total of 17,437 megawatts (MW) of power were missing due to the failures – as well as a failure of 4,361 MW due to planned maintenance work. In addition, there is very little fuel for replacement diesel generators.

Despite the global struggle to reduce CO2 for climate protection, South Africa, with its rich coal reserves, still relies on about 80 percent of its old coal-fired power stations, which fail to generate energy. are increasingly prone to. At the World Climate Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, representatives of the German government announced that they wanted to support the country in the transition to clean energy sources. The €700 million promised by Germany is part of a new energy partnership with South Africa, which has also been joined by Great Britain, the USA, France and the European Union.

A total of US$8.5 billion (7.36 billion euros) is planned for the next five years, a large part of it in the form of loans. The partners are looking to raise private funding and funding from the World Bank to promote the use of new clean technologies, including “green hydrogen”, in South Africa.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 211108-99-909516/2