THE DEVELOPMENT BANK OF SOUTHERN AFRICA’S ROLE IN FINANCING PROPOSED NEW COAL-FIRED POWER PLANTS

The CER argues that the DBSA's potential financing of the Thabametsi and Khanyisa coal-fired power plants contradicts its mandate for sustainable development and violates constitutional environmental rights. The CER highlights that these projects face significant legal challenges regarding licenses and would result in greenhouse gas emission intensities nearly 60% higher than Eskom's Medupi and Kusile plants. Furthermore, the CER cites evidence that South Africa has surplus base supply capacity and that these plants would increase costs by R19.68 billion compared to a least-cost energy system.

• The DBSA is identified in a Department of Energy Fact Sheet as having a total debt exposure of R 6 000 million for the two recommended Preferred Bidders of the First Bid Submission Phase, which are the Thabametsi and Khanyisa power stations.
• Both the Thabametsi and Khanyisa projects lack necessary legal authorisations to reach financial close; Thabametsi lacks an atmospheric emission licence, a water use licence, and a NERSA generation licence, while Khanyisa lacks a generation licence and faces appeals regarding its provisional atmospheric emission and water use licences.
• The proposed coal plants would have greenhouse gas emission intensities nearly 60% higher than Eskom's Medupi and Kusile plants, leading to irreversible climate impacts.
• The projects are located in polluted air quality priority areas—the Waterberg-Bojanala Priority Area for Thabametsi and the Highveld Priority Area for Khanyisa—where current air quality already exceeds standards and causes severe health issues such as heart attacks, strokes, and respiratory infections.
• Analysis indicates that South Africa does not require new base supply capacity for the foreseeable future and that the coal IPPs would cost an additional R19.68 billion compared to a least-cost energy system and increase GHG emissions by 205,7Mt CO2eq over 30 years.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2018). THE DEVELOPMENT BANK OF SOUTHERN AFRICA’S ROLE IN FINANCING PROPOSED NEW COAL-FIRED POWER PLANTS. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/CER-letter-to-DBSA-16-August-2018.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. THE DEVELOPMENT BANK OF SOUTHERN AFRICA’S ROLE IN FINANCING PROPOSED NEW COAL-FIRED POWER PLANTS. 2018. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/CER-letter-to-DBSA-16-August-2018.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=THE DEVELOPMENT BANK OF SOUTHERN AFRICA’S ROLE IN FINANCING PROPOSED NEW COAL-FIRED POWER PLANTS |date=16 August 2018 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/CER-letter-to-DBSA-16-August-2018.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centreforenvironmentalrights2018development, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{THE DEVELOPMENT BANK OF SOUTHERN AFRICA’S ROLE IN FINANCING PROPOSED NEW COAL-FIRED POWER PLANTS}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2018}, month = aug, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/CER-letter-to-DBSA-16-August-2018.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }