• The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has exempted Eskom from meeting minimum emission standards until 2025.
• However, the utility must still take steps to reduce its sulphur dioxide emissions during this period.
• This means Eskom can push to return Kusile Power Station’s units to service by December, potentially alleviating up to two stages of loadshedding.

Since the collapse of flue-gas desulphurisation units at Kusile Power Station, Eskom has been unable to fire up the generators in order to service the grid. This is because these units help to lessen the amount of toxins pumped into the atmosphere.

While Eskom was granted an exemption to bypass these units, it still needed an exemption as regards the amount of toxins it could pump into the air, lest it be fined for not abiding by the minimum emission standards. At the weekend, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) granted the utility such an exemption.

“The National Air Quality Officer (NAQO) has granted Eskom postponement to meet Minimum Emission Standards (MES) at Kusile power station from 5 June 2023 to 31 March 2025, subject to certain strict conditions,” the DFFE said.

These conditions include:

• “Eskom is required to take measures to mitigate harm caused by the exposure of sulphur dioxide to its employees and surrounding communities. This must include, at minimum, independent health screenings and the referral of people requiring healthcare to the appropriate public health facilities for treatment.
• Eskom is required to submit a detailed plan on the mitigation measures it intends to put in place within 21 days of receipt of the decision. This plan will be approved by the NAQO and Nkangala District Municipality.
• Eskom is required to submit quarterly progress reports on the implementation of the compliance road map and commitments made towards recommencing use of the Flue Gas Delsuphurisation.
• This decision must be reflected in Kusile Power Station AEL [Atmospheric Emissions Licence] to be of any force and effect.”

The utility must also abide by any conditions set out by the Nkangala District Municipality. Most importantly however, the municipality and National Air Quality Officer can review this decision at any stage during the postponement period.

It’s estimated that by by-passing the flue-gas desulphurisation units, Eskom could bring 2 100MW of energy to the grid sooner than if it had to wait for repairs to be complete. The utility says that construction of temporary stack structures will be complete by December of this year, hopefully this means the festive season isn’t marked by darkness.

Eskom has said it will comply with the conditions set out by all parties.

In a bid to alleviate loadshedding through demand management, Eskom launched a load limiting trial in Fourways, Johannesburg on Friday.

Through the programme customers are asked to reduce their power consumption to 10 Amps. Should customers comply, they will have access to 10 Amps of power for the duration of loadshedding when power cuts are at Stages 1 to 4.