Assessment of the Need for the proposed Karpowership Power Plant projects

The report argues that the proposed 1.2 GW Karpowership gas power plants are not aligned with a least-cost investment pathway for South Africa. Drawing on a study by Meridian Economics and the CSIR, it finds that the grid should prioritize rapid renewable energy build-out and storage, with new gas capacity not being economically optimal until the mid-2030s. The document concludes that commissioning these plants by 2022 would create an unnecessary economic burden for ratepayers and that the procurement process (RMIPP) was biased against renewable energy options.

• The proposed Karpowership projects, totaling 1.2 GW of gas-based capacity, are neither timely nor economically optimal, as they would come online up to 13 years before the economically optimal addition of non-peaking gas capacity.
• Commissioning the Karpowerships risks creating a long-term financial burden for South African ratepayers due to a proposed 20-year power purchase agreement for capacity that may be under-utilized or undercut by cheaper renewables.
• The Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPP) process was likely biased toward fossil fuels because it required bidders to guarantee dispatchability from 08:00 to 21:30, which precluded variable renewable energy options.
• A least-cost optimization suggests that South Africa should prioritize building renewables in areas with existing transmission capacity, such as Mpumalanga and Northern Free-State, while expanding infrastructure to other optimal resource locations.
• Existing diesel generators can sufficiently meet peaking demand requirements for the next decade, removing the immediate need for new gas-fired peaking plants.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (n.d.). Assessment of the Need for the proposed Karpowership Power Plant projects. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Annexure-AJ2-RMI-Report-27.07.2021.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. Assessment of the Need for the proposed Karpowership Power Plant projects. n.d. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Annexure-AJ2-RMI-Report-27.07.2021.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=Assessment of the Need for the proposed Karpowership Power Plant projects |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Annexure-AJ2-RMI-Report-27.07.2021.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centreforenvironmentalrightsndassessment, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{Assessment of the Need for the proposed Karpowership Power Plant projects}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Annexure-AJ2-RMI-Report-27.07.2021.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }