COAL-FIRED POWER STATION AND ASSOCIATED INFRASTRUCTURE - IPP WATERBERG (THABAMETSI) POWER STATION NEAR LEPHALALE (DEA Ref No: 14/12/16/3/3/40) LIMPOPO PROVINCE CLIMATE CHANGE STUDY AND PALAEONTOLOGICAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT: SUMMARY REPORT FOR PUBLIC REVIEW

This summary report, prepared by Savannah Environmental (Pty) Ltd for Thabametsi Power Company Proprietary Limited, details the climate change and palaeontological impact assessments for the proposed 1200MW Thabametsi coal-fired power station near Lephalale, Limpopo Province. The report was produced to satisfy conditions 10.5 and 10.6 of the project's Environmental Authorization following an appeal by the Centre for Environmental Rights. It evaluates greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, climate resilience risks, and potential impacts on fossil heritage, concluding that while GHG impacts are high, they are not a fatal flaw given South Africa's energy policy framework.

• The proposed 1200MW Thabametsi power plant is estimated to produce 8,191,067 t CO2e annually during its operational phase, with total cumulative emissions over a 30-year lifetime projected to be approximately 246 Mt CO2e.
• The project's GHG emissions are rated as 'Very Large' in magnitude and 'High (Negative)' in overall significance. However, this is not considered a fatal flaw as the project aligns with South Africa's energy policy and the Coal Baseload IPP Programme.
• The plant's estimated emissions intensity is 1.02 t CO2e / MWh. While this does not improve the current South African grid average (1.01 t CO2e / MWh), it is more efficient than the three oldest Eskom coal plants slated for decommissioning by 2025: Camden (1.24 t CO2S / MWh), Hendrina (1.18 t CO2e / MWh), and Arnot (1.09 t CO2e / MWh).
• Construction phase emissions are estimated at 261,707 tonnes of CO2e, representing 0.11% of total lifecycle emissions. Land-use change is the largest source of these emissions at 59%.
• The plant's thermal efficiency is 36.25%, which is at the higher end for subcritical plants but lower than supercritical (SC), ultra-supercritical (USC), or IGCC plants. This choice was constrained by the Coal Baseload IPP Programme's 600 MW capacity cap per project and the need for redundancy.
• Climate resilience assessments identify three risks that remain 'High' even after adaptation: plant efficiency losses due to rising temperatures, water shortages, and water quality issues.
• Climate projections for Lephalale suggest temperatures will likely increase by 2-3°C by the 2050s relative to a 1961-2000 baseline, with an increase in heatwaves and drought risk between March and August.
• The palaeontological assessment found that the probability of negative impact on fossil heritage is 'medium' for the Swartrant Formation and 'low' for the Cenozoic regolith and the Eendragtpan, Lisbon, and Clarens Formations.

APA

Blackwell, A., & Thomas, J.-A. (2017). COAL-FIRED POWER STATION AND ASSOCIATED INFRASTRUCTURE - IPP WATERBERG (THABAMETSI) POWER STATION NEAR LEPHALALE (DEA Ref No: 14/12/16/3/3/40) LIMPOPO PROVINCE CLIMATE CHANGE STUDY AND PALAEONTOLOGICAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT: SUMMARY REPORT FOR PUBLIC REVIEW. Centre for Environmental Rights. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Thabametsi-Draft-Summary-Report-Jan17.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Blackwell, Ashleigh, and Jo-Anne Thomas. COAL-FIRED POWER STATION AND ASSOCIATED INFRASTRUCTURE - IPP WATERBERG (THABAMETSI) POWER STATION NEAR LEPHALALE (DEA Ref No: 14/12/16/3/3/40) LIMPOPO PROVINCE CLIMATE CHANGE STUDY AND PALAEONTOLOGICAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT: SUMMARY REPORT FOR PUBLIC REVIEW. Centre for Environmental Rights, 2017. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Thabametsi-Draft-Summary-Report-Jan17.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Blackwell |first1=Ashleigh |last2=Thomas |first2=Jo-Anne |title=COAL-FIRED POWER STATION AND ASSOCIATED INFRASTRUCTURE - IPP WATERBERG (THABAMETSI) POWER STATION NEAR LEPHALALE (DEA Ref No: 14/12/16/3/3/40) LIMPOPO PROVINCE CLIMATE CHANGE STUDY AND PALAEONTOLOGICAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT: SUMMARY REPORT FOR PUBLIC REVIEW |publisher=Centre for Environmental Rights |date=January 2017 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Thabametsi-Draft-Summary-Report-Jan17.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{blackwell2017coalfired, author = {Blackwell, Ashleigh and Thomas, Jo-Anne}, title = {{COAL-FIRED POWER STATION AND ASSOCIATED INFRASTRUCTURE - IPP WATERBERG (THABAMETSI) POWER STATION NEAR LEPHALALE (DEA Ref No: 14/12/16/3/3/40) LIMPOPO PROVINCE CLIMATE CHANGE STUDY AND PALAEONTOLOGICAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT: SUMMARY REPORT FOR PUBLIC REVIEW}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2017}, month = jan, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Thabametsi-Draft-Summary-Report-Jan17.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }