Thabametsi 630MW coal fired power plant

Overview:

• The Thabametsi 630MW coal fired power plant, also known as also known as the Grootegeluk power station, is a proposed power plant being developed by the Marubeni Corporation and Exxaro Resources.
• The plant will be located in Lephalale, Limpopo, adjacent to Exxaro’s existing Grootegeluk Complex.
• It is one of the first projects bid under the government's Coal Baseload IPP Procurement Programme.
• The financing for the project is provided by Nedbank, Standard Bank, Rand Merchant Bank (part of FirstRand Bank), the Development Bank of Southerb Africa and Absa Bank.
• In March 2017 the High Court in Pretoria set aside a decision by Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa to authorise the plant due to the lack of a climate change impact assessment, one of the first climate change litigations in the country.

Anna Kozakova - Journalist