Coal-3 power station

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Coal-3 power station is a cancelled power station in Waterberg, Waterberg District, Limpopo, South Africa.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Coal-3 power station Waterberg, Waterberg District, Limpopo, South Africa -24.075, 28.141667 (approximate)

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

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Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Status Fuel(s) Capacity (MW) Technology
cancelled coal: bituminous 1500 unknown

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Owner Parent
Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd [100%] Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd [100.0%]

Project-level coal details

  • Coal source(s): Waterberg

Background

In 2011, the South Africa Department of Energy (DOE) released an Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) for the 2010-2030 time period which laid out plans for a Coal-3 power station. In a 2013 update, it reduced the scale of the proposed plant to 1,000-1,500 MW.[1]

In August 2013, the South Africa Cabinet approved the building of a third coal-fired power station by Eskom, although no timeline, schedules, or costs were approved. Industry Minister Rob Davies said construction of the power station, dubbed Coal 3, was likely to start once Eskom’s two current coal-fired projects, the Medupi power station and Kusile Power Station, were completed. The coal plant would have been built in Waterberg using the coal in the region.[2]

Yale Environment 360 offered the following rationale for the power station: "Although the Waterberg is one of southern Africa’s largest known coal deposits, it has remained underexploited because its complex geology and lack of water and rail lines has made it less attractive to private investors than 'easier' coalfields farther south. The Coal 3 plant would change this by guaranteeing local markets for more Waterberg mines.... In addition, associated heavy-haul rail lines will allow access to lucrative export markets, not just for the Waterberg mines but for new mines in adjacent Botswana, too.... [S]upporters of South Africa’s ruling party hold coal rights in the region, and landlocked Botswana’s government has long sought a route to the sea for its abundant but almost completely unexploited coal resources."[3]

In February 2014, the South African minister of public enterprises reaffirmed the government's commitment to the plant, but said Eskom had done only "limited work" on Coal 3 because it lacked the funds.[4]

In March 2016, Eskom stated that it was considering building Coal 3 in the wake of power shortages in the country. Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown said it should be a public-private partnership.[5]

With no known developments on the project in over four years, it appears to be delayed indefinitely or replaced by the proposed Musina-Makhado power station or another power station.

Lack of Funder Interest

According to a March 2016 press report, the Coal-3 project was increasingly unlikely due to lack of investor interest. “If I had the money necessary to build Coal 3, and if I had the intention of building a large-scale coal power station, then I would build it myself and sell the electricity to Eskom as an independent power producer,” said energy analyst David Lipschitz. Nevertheless, Eskom continued to promote the project. Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown said that Eskom would seek collaboration from private sector investors for the project.[6]

Involvement by Gupta family

As part of an investigation by Parliament's public enterprises committee into issues of state capture at Eskom, former Eskom CEO Brian Dames reported that he had met with two members of the Gupta family at a meeting held at Sahara Computers, a Gupta-owned IT firm. At the meeting, the Guptas brought up the issue of coal contracts. As reported by Dames: "He said 'we've decided we can work with you'- I don't know who 'we' was‚" Dames said of the conversation. "There was a request for a coal contract for Lethabo which is very strange because Lethabo is a unique power station‚ it needed no additional coal. There was a request for another coal station after Medupi and Kusile- a Coal 3 thing and then there was the newspaper thing."[7][8]

Articles and Resources

References

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.