South Africa's Eskom launches renewable energy unit

Power utility Eskom on Tuesday launched a renewable unit, part of a vision by the company to reduce dependence on coal plants.

Named Eskom Green, the unit will operate under Eskom Holdings before transitioning into a wholly-owned subsidiary operating autonomously.

Eskom set a target to pivot to mainly clean energy sources by 2040. Currently, it supplies the bulk of South Africa's electricity needs from its fleet of coal-fired plants.

Eskom Green targets sectors such as mining and maufacturing as its customers.

It aims to generate 6 gigawatts of clean energy by 2030.

Under the so-called Just Energy Transition Plan (JETP), South African has received financing from the G7 to develop renewable energy projects as a way to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.