World Bank To Review Delay Of Pollution Controls At South African Coal Plant

[unhappycamper]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/11/world-bank-fossil-fuels_n_4255794.html



The Medupi Power Station near Lephalale, South Africa, on April 25, 2012. South African utility Eskom is asking for an exemption from pollution standards for up to 10 years.

World Bank To Review Delay Of Pollution Controls At South African Coal Plant
Kate Sheppard
Posted: 11/11/2013 3:39 pm EST

WASHINGTON -- A World Bank-backed coal plant in South Africa is seeking to delay the implementation of pollution controls, a request that is raising new concerns about the bank's ability to enforce environmental standards on projects it supports.

In April 2010, the World Bank approved a $3.75 billion loan to the South African public utility Eskom to build the Medupi coal-fired power plant, which would be one of the largest power plants in the world. The loan was highly controversial, with the United States declining to vote on it due to concerns about its contribution to global warming. One of the conditions for the loan's approval was that the plant would have to install a type of pollution control known as flue gas desulfurization equipment to abate the release of harmful emissions like sulfur dioxide, a dangerous pollutant.

The plant was supposed to be fully commissioned by 2015, but due to delays, that date has been pushed back to 2017. Eskom was required under South African law to have pollution control equipment installed by 2020. But now Eskom is asking for an extension in order to meet those pollution control requirements, requesting a compliance date of 2027, a full 10 years after the plant is expected to be up and running.

Eskom requested the extension in an application to the South African Ministry of Environment and Forest. The application also states that the plant is unable to install pollution controls due to constraints on its access to water, which raises questions about whether Eskom should have identified that problem before it promised to install the controls in the first place.

[hatrack]

1. Gosh, a big corporation doesn't want to pay for externalities as part of doing business

Imagine that . . .