In January 2023, Eskom announced plans to introduce temporary flue stacks at Kusile Power Station (“KPS”) to bypass the damaged components of Units 1, 2 and 3 due to a critical failure in Unit 1’s operating systems. The use of temporary flues would allow the damaged Units to return to operation 8 months ahead of schedule while permanent repairs are conducted. However, the temporary stacks will result in a substantial increase in air pollution, far beyond the current permissible limits of the KPS Atmospheric Emissions Licence, which would need to be amended.
On 15 March 2023, the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Barbara Creecy, announced that Eskom has been granted certain exemptions from the “lengthy process required to amend its atmospheric emission license”. Creecy has granted the exemption in an apparent effort to combat loadshedding, with the temporary stacks set toallowthe resumption of generation capacity of 2100MW and a two-stage reduction in loadshedding.
During her statement, Creecy expressed the difficulties in balancing the need to reduce the economic harm of loadshedding with the negative health and environmental impacts associated with the proposed temporary stacks. With this in mind, the exemption regarding Eskom’s application to amend its Atmospheric Emissions Licence has been granted with strict conditions, including the requirement that Eskom conduct a public participation process subject to a curtailed timeframe of 14 days.
On 28 March 2023, Eskom released a notification inviting interested and affected parties to register and participate in the 14 day public participation process. Together with this notification is a copy of the postponement application Eskom intends to submit to Minister Creecy for consideration. The comments and objections received during this process will be used by Eskom in both the postponement application and the application for a variation of KPS’s Atmospheric Emission Licence.
Interested and affected parties are entitled to register and comment on any aspect of the proposed postponement application, however, it is noteworthy that the exemption will allow the application to be submitted without an Atmospheric Impact Report. This is even more alarming given the fact that Eskom is seeking to increase the levels of Sulphur Dioxide pollution caused by the temporary stacks from 0 Units to 3,500 units per month.
This substantial increase in Sulphur Dioxide levels has received criticism from various environmental groups, including the Centre for Environmental Rights and Life After Coal Campaign. In a media release, these groups highlighted the fact that –
“If Kusile operates at its pre-stack collapse production rates of about 33% (which is the output Kusile was producing prior to the stack malfunction) for 13 months as proposed, it is projected that 195 people will die from the SO2 pollution. If it operates at 100% for 13 months, 492 people are projected to die. If the bypass stack runs for 3 years, between 540 and 1362 people are projected to die from the SO2 pollution, depending on the production rate at Kusile.
This is over and above the existing public health disaster on the Mpumalanga Highveld where particulate matter from coal-fired power already kills more than 2200 people per year.”
It is therefore clear that Eskom’s proposed application represents a significant and undeniable threat to the health of people and the environment in the area surrounding KPS. In such circumstances, public interest groups have criticised both Eskom and Minister Creecy for appearing to prioritise the reduction of loadshedding over the basic human rights of those to be affected by KPS’s pollution.
Copies of the Eskom Public Participation Notification and Postponement Application are available at https://www.eims.co.za/2023/03/28/1572-eskom-kusile-mes-postponement-application/, which contains all information necessary to register as an interested and affected party, as well as the process to provide comments and objections in respect of the application.
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