Namane power station
| Part of the Global Coal Plant Tracker, a Global Energy Monitor project. |
| Related coal trackers: |
Namane power station is a cancelled power station in Waterberg District, Limpopo, South Africa.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Plant name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| Namane power station | Waterberg District, Limpopo, South Africa | -23.666667, 27.516667 (approximate) |
The map below shows the approximate location of the power station.
Project Details
Table 2: Unit-level details
| Unit name | Status | Fuel(s) | Capacity (MW) | Technology | Start year | Retired year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | cancelled | coal - waste coal | 660 | circulating fluidized bed | – | – |
Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details
| Unit name | Owner |
|---|---|
| Unit 1 | Namane Generation [100.0%] |
Project-level coal details
- Coal source(s): Waterberg coal field
Background
Namane Generation proposed constructing a 660 MW Independent Power Producer (IPP) coal plant at farm Duikerpan 249LQ in the Waterberg District, 44.9 km west-north-west of Lephalale. As of 2015, the company began the EIA and pursuing permits for the project. The project would have used low-grade coal sourced from the lower benches (bench 5 to bench 10) of the proposed Temo coal mine, which would lie adjacent to the plant in the Waterberg coal field. Temo coal mine was proposed by Temo Coal; both Temo Coal and Namane Generation are owned by the Namane Group. Construction would have required approximately five years.[1]
On February 28, 2017, the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) granted an integrated environmental authorisation to the project. The authorisation was appealed in April 2017 by Earthlife Africa Johannesburg and groundWork on various grounds, especially inadequate study and consideration of the impacts of the project to water supplies and quality in a water-restricted arid region. The appeal noted that the company's Updated EIR was non-committal regarding the type of cooling that would be used by the plant ("it is likely that dry cooling will be the preferred method of cooling for this Project") and that the project would produce severe impacts on an area already heavily affected by Eskom's Matimba power station and Medupi power station, in terms of its water usage, the water emissions that it would produce, and the sensitive wetlands that it would degrade or destroy. Of particular concern was the Limpopo River, located only 10 km from the Project and vulnerable to runoff via tributaries. The appeal also noted heritage impacts due to project's location in a palaeontological sensitive zone; air quality impacts; climate change impacts; and the lack of an established need for power.[2]
In addition to an environmental permit, the project was required to obtain a water use licence (WUL) for coal combustion waste and an atmospheric emission licence (AEL). As of April 2017, neither process had been undertaken.[2]
South Africa's draft Integrated Resource Plan for Electricity (IRP), released in August 2018, contained plans for an additional 1,000 MW of new coal-fired power on top of under-construction coal plants, namely Khanyisa power station and Thabametsi power station. No other coal plants were listed.[3]
The Centre for Environmental Rights has a page tracking the litigation associated with the plant, which has not been updated since 2017.[4] A similar case filed in 2017, related to the KiPower power station, was ordered by the court in May 2022.[5] There has been no known activity on the development of the project since April 2017, and it appears to be abandoned.
Articles and Resources
References
- ↑ "Namane Generation Independent Power Plant, near Lephalale, Limpopo: Draft Scoping Report Project Number: NAM3428," Namane Generation (Pty) Ltd, November 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Appeal pursuant to Section 43(2) of the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 against environmental authorisation granted to Namane Generation (Pty) Ltd on 28 February 2017," submittal to Department of Environmental Affairs by Centre for Environmental Rights on behalf of Earthlife Africa Johannesburg and groundWork, appellants, April 4, 2017
- ↑ "Life After Coal, Greenpeace Africa slam inclusion of new coal in electricity plan," CER, August 28, 2018
- ↑ "THE PROPOSED NAMANE IPP: EARTHLIFE AFRICA JOHANNESBURG AND GROUNDWORK V DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS AND NAMANE GENERATION (PTY) LTD," CER, accessed June 7, 2022
- ↑ "Another climate court victory for coal polluted Highveld Area," CER, May 9, 2022
Additional data
To access additional data, including an interactive map of coal-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.
