Arnot power station

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Arnot power station is an operating power station of at least 2352-megawatts (MW) in Rietkuil, Nkangala, Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Arnot power station	Rietkuil, Nkangala, Mpumalanga, South Africa	-25.943807, 29.79204 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the power station.

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Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):

• Unit 1, Unit 2, Unit 3, Unit 4, Unit 5, Unit 6: -25.943807, 29.79204

Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name	Status	Fuel(s)	Capacity (MW)	Technology	Start year	Retired year
Unit 1	operating	coal: bituminous	370	subcritical	1972	2030 (planned)
Unit 2	operating	coal: bituminous	390	subcritical	1971	2030 (planned)
Unit 3	operating	coal: bituminous	396	subcritical	1971	2030 (planned)
Unit 4	operating	coal: bituminous	396	subcritical	1973	2030 (planned)
Unit 5	operating	coal: bituminous	400	subcritical	1974	2030 (planned)
Unit 6	operating	coal: bituminous	400	subcritical	1975	2030 (planned)

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name	Owner	Parent
Unit 1	Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd [100%]	Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd [100.0%]
Unit 2	Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd [100%]	Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd [100.0%]
Unit 3	Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd [100%]	Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd [100.0%]
Unit 4	Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd [100%]	Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd [100.0%]
Unit 5	Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd [100%]	Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd [100.0%]
Unit 6	Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd [100%]	Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd [100.0%]

Background

The Arnot Power Station is a coal-fired station owned by the South African publicly-owned electricity utility Eskom, located at Middelburg, Mpumalanga. Construction of Arnot started in 1968, and was commissioned from 1971 to 1975.

Three of its units were put into reserve storage (mothballed) in 1992 due to the surplus generating capacity Eskom had at the time. The units were recommissioned in January 1997, November 1997 and December 1998 respectively.

The power station comprised six units of 350 MW each. In 2008, Eskom said it planned to commission 60 MW upgrades in 2008, a further 60 MW in 2009 and a further 30 MW in 2010.

In 2015, Eskom gave the unit ratings as follows: 1 x 370 MW; 1 x 390 MW; 2 x 396 MW; 2 x 400 MW for a total of 2,352 MW installed capacity and 2,232 MW nominal capacity.

In April 2016, the Eskom Board said it approved the commencement of a pre-feasibility study for renewal options for four of its oldest power stations - Komati, Camden, Hendrina, and Arnot. The pre-feasibility study would take 18 months to complete, and would include looking at options such as plant life extension.

According to South Africa's 2019 Integrated Resource Plan, the plant's 50-year Life Decommissioning was projected for 2021-2029. In April 2020, Eskom also listed the planned retirement dates for the plant's six units between 2021 and 2029.

In August 2021, Eskom announced it entered into an agreement with Arnot OpCo (Pty) Ltd for the supply of coal. Arnot OpCo will supply the full coal requirement for the life of Arnot Power Station. The contract has an exit clause after Year 6 that may allow both parties to cancel the contract.

In October 2021, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment granted Eskom with positive environmental compliance postponement decisions for Arnot as it was scheduled to shut down.

Proposed delay in retirement

In April 2023, it was reported that the Minister of Electricity had proposed to delay the retirement of some of Eskom's older coal-fired plants to help alleviate the country's energy crisis. Arnot power station and Hendrina power station were allegedly of "immediate focus." Energy analysts have reportedly warned that extending the life of aging coal plants in South Africa was likely to jeopardize access to the US$8.5 billion Just Energy Transition funding aimed at accelerating renewable energy projects in the country.

According to reports from May 2023, South African president Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed that planned retirements of coal plants would slow down. He reportedly stated that the government could not "run away" from decommissioning aging power plants, but that "the timetable and scheduling of decommissioning must be relooked at." Standard Chartered, one of the largest lenders in Africa, reportedly warned that government plans to extend the life of Eskom's coal plants would make attracting investment to South Africa harder, as investors would be wary of being trapped in stranded fossil fuel assets.

As of October 2023, the South African government was reviewing their 2019 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) and expecting to release an updated IRP before the end of the year. During the review, it was reportedly proposed that coal plant decommissioning dates scheduled for before 2030 be pushed back until 2030 and later. A study by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) published in October 2023 estimated that postponing the decommissioning until after 2030 would cause 15,300 excess air pollution-related deaths.

In May 2024, it was reported that Eskom planned to delay the closure of several coal units in an effort to alleviate the country's electricity crisis. The utility reportedly said that "although there are no new formally approved shutdown dates for the older stations," coal units that were scheduled to close between 2023 and 2030 were now "expected to run until 2030."

Disruptions & Load Shedding

The Arnot Power Station is one of several plants in South Africa facing recurring disruptions. Eskom frequently implements load shedding due to breakdowns at the power station, such as in September 2020, June 2021, November 2021, and October 2022. In addition, in 2018, union sources claimed that five of the units were down because of low coal supplies and wage protests.

In February 2023, South Africa's grid was faced with Stage 6 load shedding, massively restricting power supplies "until further notice". Breakdowns occurred at five coal-fired power stations: Arnot power station, Camden power station, Hendrina power station, Lethabo power station and Majuba power station. The breakdowns meant Eskom had 21,243 MW of unplanned outages at its plants, with a further 3,566 MW unavailable due to scheduled maintenance. Conditions were expected to worsen through the end of the month.

An article from May 22, 2023, reported that Eskom would increase load shedding due to a breakdown of generation units at Arnot, Majuba, and Medupi power stations.

In November 2023, two units at Arnot power station were taken offline for repairs.

Accidents and Incidents

In February 2022, soon before Arnot OpCo was expected to make its first delivery of coal to the plant, an investigation began regarding alleged mismanagement of the Arnot OpCo operation. Wescoal, which holds 50% interest in Arnot OpCo, said that they remain committed to supplying coal to the Arnot Power Station amid the investigation. In October 2022, Arnot OpCo was placed under "supervision and business rescue proceedings". The mine was to continue supplying the power station.

In March 2023, a former Senior Buyer at Arnot power station was arrested over a 2014 pre-paid contract for undelivered bowl pumps.

Environmental impact

According to a March 2024 report on air pollution in Africa by Greenpeace, Arnot power station was among Africa's ten largest point sources of nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution from May 2018 to November 2021. Eight other Eskom coal plants were included in the top ten NOx emissions hotspots in Africa for that period. The report noted that government data on emissions in Africa is patchy, so the authors relied on satellite measurements.

In May 2024, South Africa's Ministry of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment approved an exemption for Hendrina power station, Kriel power station, Grootvlei power station, Camden power station, and Arnot power station from a 2010 sulphur dioxide emissions control rule. The power stations were authorized to operate through 2030 without meeting the standard. In June 2024, Eskom indicated that it intended to apply for exemptions for Matla power station, Duvha power station, Tutuka power station, and Kendal power station as well.

Articles and Resources

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.