THE LIFE AFTER COAL CAMPAIGN - CONCERNS AND RISKS RELATING TO THE PROPOSED INDEPENDENT POWER PRODUCER (IPP) COAL-FIRED POWER STATION PROJECTS UNDER BID WINDOW 1 OF THE COAL BASELOAD IPP PROCUREMENT PROGRAMME

The Life After Coal Campaign urges the South African Minister of Finance to withhold guarantees for the Thabametsi and Khanyisa coal-fired power stations. The campaign argues these projects fail 'value for money' tests, violate the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), and would cause irreversible harm to the climate and public health. They highlight that the projects are not part of a least-cost electricity plan and would increase greenhouse gas emissions by 205.7Mt CO2eq over 30 years, potentially exposing the National Treasury to liabilities between R25.2 billion and R225.2 billion.

• The Thabametsi and Khanyisa coal-fired power projects are deemed unnecessary and fail to meet 'value for money' criteria because they do not provide a net benefit to Eskom or the government and are not in the best interests of the South African people.
• The projects face significant legal and regulatory hurdles, including pending High Court reviews of environmental authorisations and missing essential permits such as atmospheric emission licences (AELs), water use licences (WULs), and NERSA generation licences.
• The National Treasury may be exposed to substantial financial risk, with the Department of Energy requesting indemnities for the coal IPPs valued at R25.2 billion, potentially reaching a maximum of R225.2 billion.
• According to a University of Cape Town Energy Research Centre (ERC) report, the coal IPPs would cost South Africa an additional R20 billion to R23 billion compared to a least-cost electricity system and would increase greenhouse gas emissions by 205.7Mt CO2eq over 30 years.
• The projects are criticized for their environmental and health impacts, as they would be located in air quality priority areas (Highveld and Waterberg-Bojanala) and are expected to be 60% more GHG emission-intensive than the Medupi and Kusile plants.
• The draft Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) 2018 indicates that the 1,000MW of coal capacity from these IPPs is not part of a least-cost plan but has been 'forced in' as a policy-adjusted plan to minimize job losses from decommissioning other plants.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2018). THE LIFE AFTER COAL CAMPAIGN - CONCERNS AND RISKS RELATING TO THE PROPOSED INDEPENDENT POWER PRODUCER (IPP) COAL-FIRED POWER STATION PROJECTS UNDER BID WINDOW 1 OF THE COAL BASELOAD IPP PROCUREMENT PROGRAMME. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/LAC-Letter-to-Minister-of-Finance-19-11-18.DOCX.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. THE LIFE AFTER COAL CAMPAIGN - CONCERNS AND RISKS RELATING TO THE PROPOSED INDEPENDENT POWER PRODUCER (IPP) COAL-FIRED POWER STATION PROJECTS UNDER BID WINDOW 1 OF THE COAL BASELOAD IPP PROCUREMENT PROGRAMME. 2018. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/LAC-Letter-to-Minister-of-Finance-19-11-18.DOCX.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=THE LIFE AFTER COAL CAMPAIGN - CONCERNS AND RISKS RELATING TO THE PROPOSED INDEPENDENT POWER PRODUCER (IPP) COAL-FIRED POWER STATION PROJECTS UNDER BID WINDOW 1 OF THE COAL BASELOAD IPP PROCUREMENT PROGRAMME |date=19 November 2018 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/LAC-Letter-to-Minister-of-Finance-19-11-18.DOCX.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centreforenvironmentalrights2018life, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{THE LIFE AFTER COAL CAMPAIGN - CONCERNS AND RISKS RELATING TO THE PROPOSED INDEPENDENT POWER PRODUCER (IPP) COAL-FIRED POWER STATION PROJECTS UNDER BID WINDOW 1 OF THE COAL BASELOAD IPP PROCUREMENT PROGRAMME}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2018}, month = nov, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/LAC-Letter-to-Minister-of-Finance-19-11-18.DOCX.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }