Eskom coal plants granted limited emissions exemptions

Coal-fired power stations have received limited exemptions from air quality laws and harmful emissions reduction regulations, the environment minister said on Monday, but added the measures did not constitute a “blanket reprieve”.

The government is struggling to strike a balance between calls to reduce its carbon footprint and stop harmful emissions and the need to provide electricity to power the economy, which has stagnated due to power cuts.

Eskom, whose fleet of old coal-fired power plants generates most of the country's electricity, had applied to exempt eight plants from minimum emission standards prescribed in air quality regulations.

In granting the exemptions, the ministry of forestry, fisheries and environment said it would require Eskom to step up monitoring, appoint environmental health specialists and provide mobile health clinics, among other measures.

“The exemptions are not a blanket reprieve but are tailored to each facility with stringent conditions,” environment minister Dion George told a press conference.

Six plants — Lethabo, Kendal, Tutuka, Majuba, Matimba and Medupi — will have exemptions capped at five years, expiring on April 1 2030, while the Duvha and Matla power stations will be exempted until their planned decommissioning dates in 2034.

Eskom, one of the continent's worst polluters, has been running its plants hard in an attempt to end a decade of economically devastating power cuts and clear a maintenance backlog amid regular breakdowns.

It has previously said retrofitting its plants, many of them 30 to 40 years old, with new technology to reduce harmful emissions is too costly.

Earlier this month a 10-year study found people living near coal-fired power stations, mostly concentrated in Mpumalanga's coal belt, had a mortality rate 6% higher than their peers elsewhere in South Africa.

The report from the SA Medical Research Council and Britain's department for international development found higher rates of birth defects and cardiovascular and lung disease in communities near plants. It recommended phasing out coal-fired plants.

“We want enough electricity to grow our economy, and we want clean, breathable air,” George said.

“It is completely unacceptable when our children have problems with their lungs and babies are born with cleft palates.” 

Reuters