REQUEST FOR WRITTEN REASONS: INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN FOR ELECTRICITY, 2019

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), acting on behalf of groundWork and Earthlife Africa NPC, submitted a formal request to Minister Gwede Mantashe for written reasons regarding the promulgation of the updated Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) for Electricity published on 18 October 2019.

• The CER requests justification for the decision to include 1,500 MW of new coal capacity in the IRP, noting that this is an increase from the 1,000 MW proposed in the draft 2018 IRP. They question this allocation given the IRP's stated goal of being a "least-cost plan" and the assertion that the system would only build renewables and gas if those resources were assumed to be unlimited.
• The request seeks clarification on "Decision 6" of the IRP, which states that South Africa should not stop the development of coal resources for power generation, provided new projects use "high efficiency, low emission technologies" or "clean coal technologies". The CER asks for the specific benchmarks used to define these technologies.
• The CER questions the IRP's reference to 900 MW of new coal capacity as being "already procured" and asks if this refers to the preferred bidder independent power producers Thabametsi and Khanyisa. They further ask why this specific 900 MW is exempt from the requirement to use clean coal technology.
• The document challenges the IRP's decision to impose annual build limits on wind and PV renewables, and the subsequent conclusion that new coal capacity is needed to "close the gap" created by these limits and gas availability assumptions.
• The CER requests reasons for the IRP's assumption of a 50-year lifespan for existing Eskom coal-fired power stations and the decision not to recommend the shutdown of plants that are non-compliant with Minimum Emission Standards (MES), citing the need to balance energy security against health impacts and economic costs.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2019). REQUEST FOR WRITTEN REASONS: INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN FOR ELECTRICITY, 2019. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/CER-IRP-Request-for-Reasons_Minister-Mantashe-5-11-19.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. REQUEST FOR WRITTEN REASONS: INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN FOR ELECTRICITY, 2019. 2019. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/CER-IRP-Request-for-Reasons_Minister-Mantashe-5-11-19.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=REQUEST FOR WRITTEN REASONS: INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN FOR ELECTRICITY, 2019 |date=5 November 2019 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/CER-IRP-Request-for-Reasons_Minister-Mantashe-5-11-19.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centreforenvironmentalrights2019request, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{REQUEST FOR WRITTEN REASONS: INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN FOR ELECTRICITY, 2019}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2019}, month = nov, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/CER-IRP-Request-for-Reasons_Minister-Mantashe-5-11-19.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }