SUBMISSIONS ON ESKOM’S APPLICATIONS FOR POSTPONEMENT OF COMPLIANCE WITH THE MINIMUM EMISSION STANDARDS IN TERMS OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: AIR QUALITY ACT, 2004

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), representing several community and environmental groups, submitted preliminary representations opposing Eskom's applications to postpone compliance with Minimum Emission Standards (MES) for its coal-fired power stations. The CER argues that Eskom's applications are based on flawed atmospheric modelling, exaggerated compliance costs, and a failure to meet the legal requirements of the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act (AQA) and the 2012 National Framework for Air Quality Management. The submission highlights that granting these postponements would increase pollution in declared Priority Areas and cause significant detrimental impacts on human health.

• The CER asserts that Eskom's atmospheric modelling is fundamentally flawed because it modelled each power station in isolation, ignoring the combined impact of multiple stations within the same airshed. This approach underestimates ambient concentrations of SO2, NOx, and PM, leading to the incorrect conclusion that the impact of non-compliance is negligible.
• Eskom's estimated capital expenditure (CAPEX) for compliance is claimed to be significantly exaggerated. Specifically, the CER argues that Eskom's PM abatement cost estimate of R2581/kW is based on outdated 12-year-old US EPA reports and ignores modern technology like state-of-the-art electrostatic precipitators, which could cost as little as R529/kW.
• The submission argues that Eskom fails to meet the legal conditions for postponement under the 2012 National Framework for Air Quality Management, which requires that ambient air quality standards (AAQS) in the area are in compliance and will remain so even if the postponement is granted.
• The majority of Eskom's coal-fired power stations are located in declared Priority Areas—the Highveld Priority Area (HPA), the Vaal Triangle Airshed Priority Area (VTAPA), and the Waterberg Priority Area (WPA)—where air quality is already compromised. Granting postponements would contradict the purpose of these declarations by permitting increased pollution.
• The CER disputes Eskom's 'source apportionment' claim that high PM10 levels are primarily caused by domestic fuel use rather than power stations. The CER provides evidence that surface inversion layers often exceed the height of Eskom's stacks, meaning pollutants are trapped and contribute to ground-level concentrations.
• An expert analysis included in the submission estimates that Eskom's current emissions cause approximately 2,200 premature deaths per year due to PM2.5 exposure. If the requested non-compliance is permitted, it is projected to cause an additional 20,000 premature deaths over the remaining life of the plants.
• The CER rejects Eskom's proposal for 'emission offsets' (reducing household emissions to offset power station emissions), stating there is no legal basis for such a trade-off in the AQA or the Framework, and that it would effectively swap one pollutant for another without a sound rationale.
• The submission identifies numerous technical errors and inconsistencies in Eskom's applications, including discrepancies in coal consumption and emission data between different reports (e.g., for the Kendal power station) and incorrect volumetric flow rate calculations.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2014). SUBMISSIONS ON ESKOM’S APPLICATIONS FOR POSTPONEMENT OF COMPLIANCE WITH THE MINIMUM EMISSION STANDARDS IN TERMS OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: AIR QUALITY ACT, 2004. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/CER-submissions-on-Eskoms-postponement-applications_12-Feb-2014_final1.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. SUBMISSIONS ON ESKOM’S APPLICATIONS FOR POSTPONEMENT OF COMPLIANCE WITH THE MINIMUM EMISSION STANDARDS IN TERMS OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: AIR QUALITY ACT, 2004. 2014. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/CER-submissions-on-Eskoms-postponement-applications_12-Feb-2014_final1.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=SUBMISSIONS ON ESKOM’S APPLICATIONS FOR POSTPONEMENT OF COMPLIANCE WITH THE MINIMUM EMISSION STANDARDS IN TERMS OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: AIR QUALITY ACT, 2004 |date=12 February 2014 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/CER-submissions-on-Eskoms-postponement-applications_12-Feb-2014_final1.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centreforenvironmentalrights2014submissions, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{SUBMISSIONS ON ESKOM’S APPLICATIONS FOR POSTPONEMENT OF COMPLIANCE WITH THE MINIMUM EMISSION STANDARDS IN TERMS OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: AIR QUALITY ACT, 2004}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2014}, month = feb, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/CER-submissions-on-Eskoms-postponement-applications_12-Feb-2014_final1.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }