The impacts of government’s plans for 1500 MW of new coal power in South Africa

A fact sheet based on University of Cape Town research finds that adding 1.5 GW of new coal power to South Africa's electricity system would increase costs, raise electricity prices by 0.5%, and lead to GDP and job losses by 2030. The document asserts that a least-cost plan would exclude new coal and that proceeding with coal would increase the cost of meeting 2030 climate targets by R74 to R109 billion.

• Integrating 1.5 GW of new coal power into South Africa's electricity system increases costs regardless of whether climate goals are considered. A least-cost electricity plan would exclude any new coal capacity. In a reference case, forcing new coal through 2030 and beyond would result in additional costs of at least R23 billion, leading to a 0.5 percent increase in electricity prices for consumers.
• The addition of 1.5 GW of new coal power has negative economic and environmental impacts. It is projected to cause a GDP loss of 0.11 percent in 2030 and 0.08 percent in 2040 compared to a least-cost expansion, and result in approximately 25,000 job losses across the economy by 2030. Environmentally, it would increase cumulative greenhouse gas emissions to 2050 by 289 Mt CO2-eq compared to an optimal build plan without new coal.
• Proceeding with 1.5 GW of new coal power significantly increases the cost of meeting South Africa's revised climate targets (350 - 420 MtCO2e) by 2030, adding between R74 billion and R109 billion. Even when aiming for the less ambitious target of 420 MtCO2e, costs would increase by R74 billion compared to an optimized system without new coal.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (n.d.). The impacts of government’s plans for 1500 MW of new coal power in South Africa. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Final-ESRG-Infographic-1.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. The impacts of government’s plans for 1500 MW of new coal power in South Africa. n.d. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Final-ESRG-Infographic-1.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=The impacts of government’s plans for 1500 MW of new coal power in South Africa |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Final-ESRG-Infographic-1.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centreforenvironmentalrightsndimpacts, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{The impacts of government’s plans for 1500 MW of new coal power in South Africa}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Final-ESRG-Infographic-1.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }