Thabametsi Power Station Limpopo Province Final Climate Change Study and Palaeontological Impact Assessment

The document is a 'Comments and Responses Report' addressing objections to the Thabametsi Power Station's climate and palaeontological assessments. The developer, Thabametsi Power Company, defends the project's alignment with the 2010 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) and argues that its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while high, are consistent with international standards and comparable to other South African coal plants. It rejects claims that it must calculate the 'social cost of carbon' or assess community-level climate resilience, stating these fall outside the approved Scope of Work. The report also addresses water scarcity risks in the Lephalale region, asserting that Phase 1 will use existing water allocations from the MCWAP-1 scheme and employ dry-cooling technology to minimize consumption.

• The Thabametsi power station is projected to have total annual GHG emissions of 9,879,522 tons of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) during its operational phase, an increase from the 8.2 million tons estimated in the draft report due to the inclusion of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O).
• The project's GHG emission intensity is estimated at 1.23 tons of CO2e per megawatt hour (MWh). The developer argues this is lower than the projected 2021/22 intensities of five Eskom plants scheduled for decommissioning: Camden, Hendrina, Grootvlei, Komati, and Kriel.
• The developer asserts that calculating the social cost of carbon (SCC) for the project is not feasible because there are no universally accepted guidelines for project-level estimation and South Africa uses a carbon tax approach instead.
• Water availability is identified as a high risk for the project. Phase 1 will require 720,000 m3 of water per annum, sourced from an existing allocation from the Mokolo Crocodile Water Augmentation Project (MCWAP-1) scheme.
• The project utilizes circulating fluidised bed (CFB) technology and dry-cooled condensers, which the developer claims use up to 15 times less water than wet-cooled plants, a choice driven by the water scarcity of the project area and the Coal Baseload IPP Procurement Programme requirements.
• The developer maintains that the project is a necessary part of national interest, aligned with the 2010 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) and the 2016 IRP update base case to ensure security of electricity supply.
• The overall impact rating for climate change is categorized as 'high' (negative), but the developer concludes that the general impacts of the power station's construction and operation are of 'Medium to Low' significance provided mitigation measures are implemented.
• Regarding palaeontological impacts, the developer has incorporated recommendations from the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) into the Environmental Management Programme (EMPr), including the requirement for a professional to inspect any newly discovered heritage resources.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2017). Thabametsi Power Station Limpopo Province Final Climate Change Study and Palaeontological Impact Assessment. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Thabametsi-Comments-Responses-Report_Final-Aug-2017.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. Thabametsi Power Station Limpopo Province Final Climate Change Study and Palaeontological Impact Assessment. 2017. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Thabametsi-Comments-Responses-Report_Final-Aug-2017.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=Thabametsi Power Station Limpopo Province Final Climate Change Study and Palaeontological Impact Assessment |date=August 2017 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Thabametsi-Comments-Responses-Report_Final-Aug-2017.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centreforenvironmentalrights2017thabametsi, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{Thabametsi Power Station Limpopo Province Final Climate Change Study and Palaeontological Impact Assessment}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2017}, month = aug, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Thabametsi-Comments-Responses-Report_Final-Aug-2017.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }