Eskom has failed to meet targets to reduce particulate emissions at its ageing coal-fired power stations, endangering the health of South Africans.

In the six months ended September 2023, particulate emissions climbed to 0.92kg/MWh of electricity produced, a sharp decline in performance from the 0.45kg/MWh recorded in the same period in 2022.

“Kendal continues to contribute significantly to the poor performance, together with Kriel and Matla, with the stations contributing almost half of the total emitted particulate matter within Generation,” Eskom said in notes accompanying its interim results, which were published on Wednesday.

At the end of the latest reporting period, 14 Eskom generating units were operating in non-compliance with average monthly emission limits, placing 8.6GW at risk of being shut down by the authorities, it warned. This compares with 13 units and 7.7GW a year ago.

The situation at Eskom’s newest power station, Kusile, is likely to add to the pollution problem. That plant, east of Pretoria, was given permission by government in June to construct temporary stacks to operate units until permanent stacks can be constructed. This followed the collapse of the west chimney stack at Kusile in October last year.

“The temporary stack structures were completed ahead of time, and unit 3 was brought back to service on 30 September 2023, followed by unit 1 on 16 October 2023, thereby alleviating pressure on the power system,” it said. “Unit 2 returned to service on 28 November 2023. It is envisaged that permanent repairs to the west stack will be completed by December 2024.”

Legal

The department of forestry, fisheries & the environment gave Eskom permission not to comply with pollution compliance timeframes to help alleviate the impact of load shedding on South Africa’s economy. “The station is now able to operate legally, subject to conditions, which it must comply with,” Eskom said. The utility continues to defend a criminal case brought against it over severe pollution at the Kendal power station, it said.

A project to install flue-gas desulphurisation equipment at Eskom’s Medupi power station near the border with Botswana is in the development phase, the utility said.

In March this year, Eskom’s board conditionally approved a revised strategy to pursue wet flue-gas desulphurisation at Medupi. “Initial funding for the project has been confirmed given the reprioritisation of internal funding. The request for proposals will be issued to the market towards the end of January 2024.”

The World Bank requires that the flue-gas desulphurisation pollution abatement technology be installed and has acknowledged an extension of the Medupi implementation deadline to 30 September 2029. “A more accurate programme will be provided to the World Bank after the contract is awarded to the selected supplier.”

Air pollution is not the only environmental performance factor where Eskom is going backwards. The state-owned utility said that water performance of 1.45l/kWh of electricity produced “continued to deteriorate”, falling from 1.33l a year ago.

Read: Eskom in dire straits

“Poor water management practices due to operational challenges persist across the fleet, negatively impacting water performance. A total of 16 water-related legal contravention incidents have been registered year to date due to non-compliance with the National Water Act.” – © 2023 NewsCentral Media