Page 16 - Issue 4 2023

VIEWS AND OPINION

pressure cells which hold pollutants Kusile’s construction began in 2008 and is only scheduled to end in 2024. Units
down above the city. SO 2 and other 1 and 2 were synchronised to the grid during March and July of 2017, and Unit 3
oxides react with other compounds in in March 2019. Unit 4 was synchronised in December 2021, Unit 5 is scheduled for
the atmosphere creating precipitants October this year and Unit 6 is scheduled for May 2024.
which reduce visibility and can Kusile power station is the only South African power plant to have installed FGD.
stain and damage rock, statues, and Being Eskom’s closest coal-fired power station to Gauteng – the county’s most densely
monuments. populated province – FGD was deemed necessary to limit the amount of air pollution
Although allowing Kusile to the power station would produce.
operate without FGD would potentially However, with the power station already way over budget and still incomplete,
lessen load shedding, Eskom cannot FGD seems to be a luxury the state-owned power utility cannot afford. The pressure to
guarantee that thereafter, load reduce load shedding seems to trump the clean-air imperative.
shedding would remain between
Stages 2 and 3. The exemption is References
requested with the idea that Kusile - Green Peace Report Microsoft Word - Global Hotspot and Emission Sources for
would produce 800 MW; however, SO2_16_August 2019.docx (greenpeace.org)
considering that the energy availability - MES Amendment 421: National Environmental Management :Air Quality Act
factor for four units has not increased 39/2004: Amendment of the listed Activities and Associated Minimum Emission
above 45,7%, this is highly unlikely. Standards Identified in terms of Sec 21 (cer.org.za)
The only affordable repair option
is to construct a temporary chimney
which will take 12 months to build. It
is estimated that repairs would take
two years to complete, and cost about
R250 million. Tender processes must
be approved, a contract must be drawn
up and signed, and the necessary
resources must be made available.
In 2020, Barbara Creecy, the
Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the
Environment, signed an amendment
to the National Environmental
Management: Air Quality Act 39
of 2004, stating that despite new
regulations allowing 500 mg/Nm of
3
SO 2 emission from industries such
as coal-fired power plants, “existing
plants shall comply with a new plant
emission limit of 1000 mg/Nm for
3
sulphur dioxide (SO 2).”
The initial amendment from 3500 mg/
Nm to 500 mg/Nm , and the amendment
3
3
for existing industries to comply with
3
1000 mg/Nm was surrounded by
controversy, as environmentalists
argued the emission allowance
exception was too high – double the first
amendment – and industries affected
by it said it was unreasonable to expect
immediate compliance, given the state
of the South African economy. As a
result, postponement or suspension
of compliance applications were made
available.

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