RELEVANT INFORMATION ON THE COAL INDEPENDENT POWER PRODUCERS (IPPS)

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) submitted a statement to the Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs on May 22, 2018, opposing the approval of coal-fired Independent Power Producers (IPPs), specifically Thabametsi and Khanyisa. The CER argues that these projects are unnecessary, economically damaging, and environmentally catastrophic, citing high greenhouse gas emissions, water scarcity, and air pollution in priority areas.

• The Thabametsi and Khanyisa coal IPPs are identified as preferred bidders under the first bid window of the Coal Baseload IPP Procurement Programme, with capacities of 1200MW and 600MW respectively.
• Thabametsi's climate change impact assessment indicates that the project's greenhouse gas emissions are 'Very Large', with estimated annual emissions of 5,186,749 t CO2e after Phase 1 and 9,879,522 t CO2e after Phase 2.
• Thabametsi faces significant water security risks, as it relies on the Mokolo Dam where demand is predicted to exceed supply by 2019, and the necessary Mokolo-Crocodile Water Augmentation Project Phase 2 (MCWAP2) is long-delayed and lacks environmental authorisation.
• The Khanyisa plant is located in the Highveld Air Quality Priority Area, where air pollution already causes significant health burdens; a report by Dr Mike Holland attributed approximately 2,200 annual deaths to particulate matter (PM2.5) from Eskom's coal plants alone.
• Research from the University of Cape Town’s Energy Research Centre (ERC) suggests that the coal IPPs would increase overall emissions by 155-177 Mt CO2eq to 2050 and increase overall system costs by R19.3 - R24.5 billion in present value terms.
• The coal IPPs are described as economically inefficient, with a price of R1.03 per kilowatt hour compared to the latest renewable IPPs at 62c per kilowatt hour.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2018). RELEVANT INFORMATION ON THE COAL INDEPENDENT POWER PRODUCERS (IPPS). https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/CER-Letter-to-PCEA-22-May-2018.docx.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. RELEVANT INFORMATION ON THE COAL INDEPENDENT POWER PRODUCERS (IPPS). 2018. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/CER-Letter-to-PCEA-22-May-2018.docx.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=RELEVANT INFORMATION ON THE COAL INDEPENDENT POWER PRODUCERS (IPPS) |date=22 May 2018 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/CER-Letter-to-PCEA-22-May-2018.docx.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centreforenvironmentalrights2018relevant, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{RELEVANT INFORMATION ON THE COAL INDEPENDENT POWER PRODUCERS (IPPS)}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2018}, month = may, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/CER-Letter-to-PCEA-22-May-2018.docx.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }