{"id":48334,"date":"2023-04-03T17:49:24","date_gmt":"2023-04-03T16:49:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatechangenews.com\/?p=48334"},"modified":"2023-05-29T16:13:50","modified_gmt":"2023-05-29T15:13:50","slug":"skills-shortage-threatens-south-africa-8-5-billion-clean-energy-transition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2023\/04\/03\/skills-shortage-threatens-south-africa-8-5-billion-clean-energy-transition\/","title":{"rendered":"Uncertainty on renewable retraining frightens South Africa’s coal communities"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story is the first of Climate Home News\u2019 and Oxpeckers Investigative Environmental Journalism series on South Africa’s clean energy transition, supported by the Pulitzer Center<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Nelly Sigudla, a qualified fire watcher and part-time control room operator at Duvha power station in Mpumalanga, South Africa\u2019s energy capital, worries for her future, when her main source of income gets unplugged.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The mother of four children lives in Benicon Park, an informal settlement next to the coal-fired power station, which is scheduled to be decommissioned by Eskom – South Africa’s public electricity company – between 2031 and 2034.<\/p>\n

Like many employees in the coal-mining industry, Sigudla fears her qualifications won\u2019t be enough in the near future, when renewables take over coal as South Africa\u2019s primary source of new energy, risking becoming unemployable.<\/p>\n

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The country, which depends on coal for about 85% of its electricity, is home to one of the largest energy experiments in the world: an $8.5-billion deal<\/a> with a group of rich nations – including the United States, United Kingdom and the European Union – to transition towards renewable energy.<\/p>\n

For solar panels and wind turbines to operate, South Africa will have to redirect coal workers towards new jobs in the renewable energy sector, such as construction, electrical engineering and information technology.<\/p>\n

But an investigation by Oxpeckers Investigative Environmental Journalism and Climate Home News found a major skills gap in coal-reliant communities and a lack of clarity on how funds for reskilling will be implemented.<\/p>\n

Sigudla said the transition to green energy sources in Mpumalanga is difficult to welcome. From a community perspective it could bring even more poverty. The region has a soaring unemployment rate of 38%, and more than 100,000 jobs depend on coal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the renewable sector kicks in, what fire am I going to watch?\u201d Sigudha asks.\u00a0\u201cNo one has come to the communities to tell us about new skills programmes that we can follow to acquire skills that will be needed in future.\u201d<\/p>\n