RELEVANT INFORMATION CONCERNING THE COAL IPPS – A STUDY BY THE ENERGY RESEARCH CENTRE

The Life After Coal Campaign, comprising the Centre for Environmental Rights, groundWork, and Earthlife Africa, submitted a letter to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) on 7 June 2018. The letter urges NERSA to deny generation licenses for the Thabametsi and Khanyisa coal-fired independent power producer (IPP) projects, citing a University of Cape Town Energy Research Centre (ERC) report that describes the projects as economically inefficient and environmentally harmful.

• The University of Cape Town's Energy Research Centre (ERC) report indicates that the Thabametsi (557MW) and Khanyisa (300MW) coal-fired power stations would increase costs for South Africa by R19.68 billion compared to a least-cost energy system.
• The coal IPPs are deemed unnecessary for South Africa's medium-term electricity demand because alternative sources, such as solar PV, wind, and flexible gas generation, are more economical.
• The two coal IPPs are projected to increase greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 205.7Mt CO2eq over the 30-year duration of their power purchase agreements, which would undermine the government's GHG mitigation efforts and the Paris Agreement commitments.
• The ERC report suggests that building new coal plants during a period of low demand would increase financial pressure on Eskom by reducing the output of its existing fleet, potentially accelerating a "utility death spiral" and risking the South African economy.
• The Life After Coal Campaign argues that new coal is significantly more expensive than the latest renewables IPPs, citing a cost of R1.03 compared to 62c for renewables.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2018). RELEVANT INFORMATION CONCERNING THE COAL IPPS – A STUDY BY THE ENERGY RESEARCH CENTRE. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/LAC-letter-to-NERSA-re-ERC-report-7-June-2018-1.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. RELEVANT INFORMATION CONCERNING THE COAL IPPS – A STUDY BY THE ENERGY RESEARCH CENTRE. 2018. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/LAC-letter-to-NERSA-re-ERC-report-7-June-2018-1.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=RELEVANT INFORMATION CONCERNING THE COAL IPPS – A STUDY BY THE ENERGY RESEARCH CENTRE |date=7 June 2018 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/LAC-letter-to-NERSA-re-ERC-report-7-June-2018-1.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centreforenvironmentalrights2018relevant, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{RELEVANT INFORMATION CONCERNING THE COAL IPPS – A STUDY BY THE ENERGY RESEARCH CENTRE}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2018}, month = jun, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/LAC-letter-to-NERSA-re-ERC-report-7-June-2018-1.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }