SA banks no longer keen on funding coal projects, but remain heavily invested
Still, financing coal-fired power stations is not entirely off the cards, and none has policy to stop funding coal mining
Around the world, funding for new coal-related projects is drying up. The same appears true in SA where in recent months it's been reported that three major commercial banks — Nedbank, Standard Bank and FirstRand — will no longer fund coal. This sparked concern, including in the ANC. Last week, the head of the ANC's economic transformation, Enoch Godongwana, lamented the dearth of financing for coal mining and suggested that pension funds could be forced to invest in this area. But a closer look reveals a more nuanced picture. The three banks, will not fund two new independent coal-fired power producers, Khanyisa and Thabametsi, but for two of them financing other coal-fired power stations is not off the cards. And not one of them said it would stop funding coal mining. Nedbank says its strategy is to support the diversification of SA’s energy supply over time and will no longer finance new coal-based generation projects but divert financing commitments to further diversifyin...
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