RESPONSE TO MINISTER’S STATEMENT IN RELATION TO THE PROPOSED THABAMETSI & KHANYISA IPP COAL-FIRED POWER STATIONS

A letter from the Life After Coal Campaign and Greenpeace Africa to the South African Minister of Energy, objecting to the proposed Thabametsi and Khanyisa coal-fired independent power producer (IPP) projects. The authors argue that these projects are legally precarious, environmentally damaging, and economically unnecessary compared to renewable energy alternatives.

• The Thabametsi and Khanyisa coal-fired power plants are currently unable to reach commercial and financial close due to ongoing legal challenges and missing authorisations. Thabametsi's authorisation was reissued despite a peer review finding that its climate change impact assessment understated "very high" climate impacts, and it still lacks a water use licence and an atmospheric emission licence. Khanyisa faces pending High Court proceedings regarding its environmental authorisation and challenges to its water use and atmospheric emission licences.
• Both proposed power stations would cause significant environmental and health damage. Khanyisa is located in the Highveld Priority Area, where emissions from Eskom's coal plants alone cause approximately 2,200 equivalent attributable deaths annually. Thabametsi is planned for the Waterberg-Bojanala area, which is characterized as both a water-scarce area and an air pollution priority area.
• The projects are described as highly greenhouse gas (GHG)-emission intensive, with Thabametsi potentially becoming one of the highest GHG emitters globally. There is a risk that these plants will become stranded assets and fail to operate for their intended 30-40 year lifespans due to water scarcity and GHG emission constraints.
• The authors assert that South Africa does not need new coal-fired capacity, citing research from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Meridian Economics. They argue that the coal IPP price of R1.03 per kilowatt hour is significantly more expensive than recent renewable IPPs, which would increase electricity costs for consumers.
• Proceeding with the coal IPPs is considered premature because the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) is outdated—having been published 7 years prior—and is currently being updated. The authors argue that any rational, least-cost IRP would not include new coal-fired capacity.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2018). RESPONSE TO MINISTER’S STATEMENT IN RELATION TO THE PROPOSED THABAMETSI & KHANYISA IPP COAL-FIRED POWER STATIONS. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/LAC-and-GP-letter-to-Minister-Radebe-on-IPPs-22-3-18_signed.docx.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. RESPONSE TO MINISTER’S STATEMENT IN RELATION TO THE PROPOSED THABAMETSI & KHANYISA IPP COAL-FIRED POWER STATIONS. 2018. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/LAC-and-GP-letter-to-Minister-Radebe-on-IPPs-22-3-18_signed.docx.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=RESPONSE TO MINISTER’S STATEMENT IN RELATION TO THE PROPOSED THABAMETSI & KHANYISA IPP COAL-FIRED POWER STATIONS |date=22 March 2018 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/LAC-and-GP-letter-to-Minister-Radebe-on-IPPs-22-3-18_signed.docx.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centreforenvironmentalrights2018response, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{RESPONSE TO MINISTER’S STATEMENT IN RELATION TO THE PROPOSED THABAMETSI \& KHANYISA IPP COAL-FIRED POWER STATIONS}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2018}, month = mar, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/LAC-and-GP-letter-to-Minister-Radebe-on-IPPs-22-3-18_signed.docx.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }