acacia-additional-information-ea5c2683bc405676.pdf

This briefing from Eskom to the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) provides additional information supporting an application to postpone compliance with Minimum Emission Standards (MES) for the Acacia Power Station. Eskom argues that the station's infrequent use as a peaking plant results in negligible impacts on ambient air quality and human health, and proposes decommissioning the facility around 2026.

• Eskom has established specific stack emission limits for Acacia Power Station for both normal operating conditions and start-up, shut-down, and maintenance conditions. For normal operations, the particulate limit is 75 mg/Nm by 1 April 2015 and 50 mg/Nm by 1 April 2020; the SO2 limit is 1100 mg/Nm by 1 April 2015 and 250 mg/Nm by 1 April 2020; and the NOx limit is 3500 mg/Nm by 1 April 2015 and 500 mg/Nm by 1 April 2020.
• Dispersion modelling for ambient NOx concentrations was based on calculations from fuel specifications and the EPA-AP42 emission factor rather than actual measurements. Eskom expects these to be accurate due to the uniform properties of the kerosene used, and plans to share actual emission testing results by April 2015.
• Acacia Power Station is a peaking station that operated for less than 53 hours in 2012. Because of this low usage, Eskom claims the requested emission limits pose little risk of exceeding National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).
• Eskom does not intend to upgrade Acacia to meet the 'new plant' NOx emission limit. The facility is expected to be decommissioned around 2026 based on a 50-year life plan, though this depends on national electricity demand. Additionally, new gas turbine units at Ankerlig are intended to reduce Acacia's load factor.
• Eskom argues that PM and SO2 emissions from Acacia do not significantly affect human health because their mass flow rates are substantially lower than those of NOx. To further monitor this, Eskom is purchasing an ambient air quality monitoring station for the residential area downwind of the plant, expected to be operational by April 2015.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (n.d.). acacia-additional-information-ea5c2683bc405676.pdf. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Acacia-Additional-Information.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. acacia-additional-information-ea5c2683bc405676.pdf. n.d. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Acacia-Additional-Information.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=acacia-additional-information-ea5c2683bc405676.pdf |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Acacia-Additional-Information.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centreforenvironmentalrightsndacaciaadditionalinformationea5c2683bc405676pdf, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{acacia-additional-information-ea5c2683bc405676.pdf}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Acacia-Additional-Information.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }