Eskom and Sasol must abide by emission limits, even if costs billions

[Hanno Labuschagne]

Eskom and Sasol must abide by emission limits, even if costs billions

Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. and Sasol Ltd., South Africa’s two biggest polluters, must comply with emission limits even if it costs them tens of billions of rand, Environment Minister Barbara Creecy said.

The companies, which use coal to produce electricity and gasoline respectively, have sought to avoid installing so-called flue-gas desulfurization, or FGD, units at their facilities to reduce sulfur dioxide pollution because of the cost.

That’s unacceptable, said Creecy. Eskom says the cost of installing FGD at a single power plant, Medupi, is R42 billion ($2.7 billion).

[Bloomberg]

 

[AstroTurf]

Guess that explains the loadshedding

 

[wingnut771]

That’s unacceptable, said Creecy. Eskom says the cost of installing FGD at a single power plant, Medupi, is R42 billion ($2.7 billion).

[Bloomberg]

I would ask for a second & third quote.

 

[Lupus]

I would ask for a second & third quote.

Shouldn't that have already been budgeted in?

 

[R13...]

Doubt they'll enforce it. Eskom has no money to comply. Sasol is a private company and if compliance costs make it hard for them to remain viable in this country they'll sell and stop operating.

 

[wingnut771]

What does Ted Bloem say?

 

[The_Librarian]

Shouldn't that have already been budgeted in?

Should have, but somebody must've nixed it...

 

[Lupus]

Should have, but somebody must've nixed it...

Of course the usual

 

[Lupus]

What does Ted Bloem say?

That we should be on Stage 6 every day.

 

[The_Librarian]

Of course the usual

Or there was not a big enough kickback package.

Yep, the usual.

 

[mypetcow]

What does Ted Bloem say?

Give it max 24 hours and he’ll have his say

 

[HavocXphere]

A political solution will be found to this. Some sort of "off-setting" BS I'd imagine - De Ruyter already alluded to it for Medupi.

It's not just Medupi. Pretty sure Kusile is the *only* powerplant in SA that even has flue gas desulpherization.
So basically the entire fleet of SA's powerplants needs retrofitting (or closure since they're on the last leg anyway).

SA tends to export to low sulfur coal and use the sketchy stuff locally. If they wanted to make a difference without it costing eleventy billion they could start there.

 

[cr@zydude]

A political solution will be found to this. Some sort of "off-setting" BS I'd imagine - De Ruyter already alluded to it for Medupi.

It's not just Medupi. Pretty sure Kusile is the *only* powerplant in SA that even has flue gas desulpherization.
So basically the entire fleet of SA's powerplants needs retrofitting (or closure since they're on the last leg anyway).

SA tends to export to low sulfur coal and use the sketchy stuff locally. If they wanted to make a difference without it costing eleventy billion they could start there.

View attachment 1034008

SA exports the good coal at much higher prices than the coal sold to Eskom.

 

[chromedome]

Guess that explains the loadshedding

At least we can breathe lovely fresh air in the dark.

 

[smc]

Shouldn't that have already been budgeted in?

In fact it was. Sulphur scrubbers were a contractual requirement for the World Bank loan to build Medupi. But Eskom just blew off actually building them. Despite the contract, they just didn't put them in, then signed a new contract promising to put them in. Multiple times. They have now committed to doing so by 2032(!) https://africanminingbrief.com/medu...ry-of-a-power-stations-missing-air-scrubbers/

 

[system32]

Shouldn't that have already been budgeted in?

IIRC, ESKOM got a loan from the World Bank with the condition that it be used for FGD.
Eskom probably used it for Wilge Flats or gave it to Guptas, now they in violation of the loan agreement.

 

[grok]

Shouldn't that have already been budgeted in?

Budgeting in is a western paradigm..

 

[system32]

[Eskom & Sasol pollution] kills as many as 2,000 people a year

People forget the hidden costs of emissions & pollution.
Now we can see the true costs of Coal.

Makes the business case for Solar & Wind very easy.

 

[Lupus]

People forget the hidden costs of emissions & pollution.
Now we can see the true costs of Coal.

Makes the business case for Solar & Wind very easy.

Actually makes the case for nuclear, as that's killed even less then wind and solar. Remember wind and solar don't run all the time and peaks are early morning and early evening when there is no sun.
Also batteries will cost a fortune.

 

[system32]

Actually makes the case for nuclear, as that's killed even less then wind and solar. Remember wind and solar don't run all the time and peaks are early morning and early evening when there is no sun.
Also batteries will cost a fortune.

Read Lazard LCOE Inc Storage.

Nuclear is too expensive and takes 10+ years to build.

Nuclear had Low deaths, but expensive and no solution for spent fuel.

I'm OK with nuclear if done on IPP model. No taxpayer funding, no SOE. IPP builds, maintains, manages, deals with spent fuel, etc, consumer then buys cheapest kWh from IPP - same rules as Solar+Storage or Wind+Storage