Environmentalists Make Legal Case Ahead of Authorization of New Coal Plant
The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) has challenged the Department of Environmental and Affairs (DEA), as well as the Department of Energy (DoE) and its IPP office to ensure that proper and thorough assessments of the environmental impact and potential climate change effects are conducted before the proposed Khanyisa new coal-fired power station is authorised.
The CER, acting on behalf of Earthlife Africa Johannesburg (ELA) and groundWork, are considering legal steps against these departments and the power station developers, including possible court action, if proposed IPP coal plants are allowed to proceed without the afore-mentioned climate change impact assessment having been completed.
This challenge follows written objections which have been laid against the authorisation of the Khanyisa power station because its environmental impact assessment (EIA) failed to adequately consider the climate change impacts of the proposed power station.
Furthermore, objections have been submitted against Khanyisa’s applications for integrated water-use and electricity generating licences, and objections have been raised against the validity of Khanyisa’s provisional air emission licences, which it obtained in 2015, as various amendments have been made to the proposed project, including a capacity increase from 450 MW to 600 MW since the application of the licence was made.
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