Category Archives: Medupi and Kusile coal power stations: News

Eskom’s secret deal to supply electricity to BHP Billiton below cost

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Business Report today reports on a secret Eskom dossier that was leaked to an opposition MP and raised during questioning of Eskom executives in Parliament. It apparently reveals that Eskom has been supplying electricity to BHP Billiton’s aluminium smelters at a mere 12c per kilowatt hour – below the cost of electricity production. What is also notable from the report is the that the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises ruled the opposition MP out of order for asking Eskom to confirm the authenticity of the information, saying “you should not tempt employees to give you secret information.” We strongly encourage Ms Mentor to look past the relatively small issue of confidentiality and rather focus on the serious issue of the impact of Eskom’s secret deals.

Update: The document has now been released by the DA. Download it here.

A secret Eskom dossier has revealed that the electricity supplier has been supplying electricity to BHP Billiton at 12c a kilowatt hour – below the cost of electricity production.

The secret pricing deal with the multi-national company to power its massive aluminium smelters accounted for the bulk of Eskom’s R9.5 billion loss last year.

Eskom has special secret price deals with BHP Billiton and Anglo American, which use nine percent of all electricity generated in South Africa. Continue reading →

Earthlife/groundWork press release on Medupi

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From: groundWork, Friends of the Earth, South Africa & Earthlife Africa

Johannesburg, 8th of April 2010

Both Earthlife Africa Jhb and groundWork, Friends of the Earth, South Africa are disappointed with the World Bank’s decision to go ahead with its loan to Eskom. By making this decision, the World Bank has shown, quite clearly, that it has no regard for the state of the world’s climate and environment, the future of South Africa, and economic principles of transparency and corruption. The World Bank is not a responsible lender.

The Medupi power station will put out about 30 million tons of CO2 per annum and, at a time when the world desperately needs to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, the World Bank is actively funding coal. This is an assault on the livelihoods and way of life of global citizenry. Instead of using its financial resources to help developing Continue reading →

Avaaz update on their campaign against the World Bank loan to Eskom

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SAM is definitely inspired by the range and effectiveness of Avaaz.org: “a new global web movement with a simple democratic mission: to close the gap between the world we have, and the world most people everywhere want.”

They campaign on a wide range of issues, not least climate change, and this is their update on the campaign against the World Bank’s loan to Eskom for the Medupi power station.

World Bank-Eskom loan – in the days before a crucial World Bank vote, more than 12,000 South African Avaaz members petitioned to stop a loan for a massive new coal power plant–helping fuel a nationwide and global campaign against the climate-destroying project.

Unfortunately, the loan went through — a painful defeat. But the outcry made headlines, and it had an impact. These votes are nearly always unanimous. This time, though, a quarter of the votes cast were abstentions — with key countries saying they would never again support such coal projects.

Moreover, the South African government pledged to invest R9 billion of another World Bank loan for emissions reductions projects. And the fight continues: we’ll keep up the scrutiny and pressure as the Eskom plant is built — and work to make sure this is the last coal plant the World Bank ever funds.

Sign on: Letter to ministers on Medupi & Kusile

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We invite you to sign this open letter. The full text of the letter is displayed below. Please indicate whether you are signing on behalf of your organisation or yourself.

Update (21/04/2010): We have now sent this letter to the Ministers of Public Enterprises, Energy and for Environmental Affairs, and to the chairs of the three corresponding parliamentary portfolio committees. (View the PDF version.) You may still sign on if you wish: the letter sent to the ministers invites them to visit here.

Ms Barbara Hogan
Minister of Public Enterprises
Ms Dipuo Peters
Minister of Energy
Ms Buyelwa Sonjica
Minister of Environmental Affairs

20 April 2010

Kusile and Medupi: Missed opportunities for truly sustainable economic development and global leadership: a call for no further coal power stations

Dear Ministers Hogan, Peters and Sonjica

We urge you to reconsider plans to continue with the construction of the Medupi and Kusile power stations. As a nation, we have far better options for creating jobs, strengthening and modernising our economy and human resources, and reducing inequality. The pollution these power stations create will endanger South Africa’s economy. The carbon pollution has attracted much attention, but acid mine drainage in the Limpopo coalfields is also likely to be extremely damaging. The power stations and associated mines threaten the well-being of South Africans and the world’s people, especially the poor. Continue reading →

World Bank approves loan for coal-fired Medupi power plant: Action needed

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Last week the World Bank board approved a R3 billion loan to be used for building Eskom’s Medupi coal power station. Several countries (including the United States and United Kingdom) abstained from the vote in protest against funding new coal generation capacity over climate concerns. A range of South African environmental and community groups have also strongly opposed the loan over the massive carbon emissions of the plant over its lifetime, serious concerns about acid mine drainage (which is expected to turn the coal mining areas of Limpopo into a wasteland and render water supplies unusable) and the lack of job creation in such a capital-intensive project (compared to alternatives such as renewables and energy efficiency campaigns). There is an additional concern over the shareholding of the ruling party (through Chancellor House) in Hitachi SA, which stands to gain substantially from the building of the Medupi plant.

The Sustainability Action Movement is seriously concerned over Eskom’s plans to build two new coal-fired plants (Medupi and Kusile) and we are in the process of canvassing support for an open letter to public enterprises minister Barbara Hogan urging the government to reconsider its support for these projects. Continue reading →