State-owned electricity utility Eskom expects to secure a resolution by the end of January to the fact that its Kriel power station, in Mpumalanga, is operating in breach of its Atmospheric Emission Licence conditions.

Spokesperson Andrew Etzinger told Engineering News Online on Friday that, owing to the progress being made with the “relevant authorities”, the power station had, thus, not been partially shut down in line with a self-imposed compliance deadline of December 31, 2013.

The utility acknowledged last year that the 3 000 MW power station had been unable to comply with the licence since its introduction in July and indicated that it might be forced to shut up to 2 400 MW of capacity should it fail to find a remedy.

“We expect final resolution by the end of January,” Etzinger reported.

Towards the end of last year, the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) advised Eskom to apply for a five-year postponement to Kriel’s compliance. However, it stressed that there was no legal provision for the plant to be exempted from the licence conditions.

Eskom placed newspaper advertisements indicating that it planned to apply for a postponement and exemption from the Minimum Emission Standards as they applied to Kriel.

But the DEA indicated that, although Section 59 of the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act provided for exemptions to provisions of the Act, no exemptions could be granted from a provision of Section 22, which related to the Atmospheric Emission Licence.

Eskom indicated that it had been able to find solutions to ensure that the Duvha and Matla power stations, which are also located in Mpumalanga, were compliant with the requirements of the Minimum Emission Standards of the Air Quality Act. But it said Kriel could only be made compliant through fabric filter plant retrofits, which were currently scheduled for between 2017 and 2022.