The Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF) has revoked a Section 30A directive granted to Turkish power ship operator Karpowership for activities linked to the emergency generation of electricity.
When Karpowership initially submitted its request, the company indicated that South Africa’s electricity supply was under threat because of the increased pressure on the healthcare system as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak.
The motivation for the request was to ensure an uninterrupted supply of energy to the healthcare sector, something which Eskom was unable to guarantee as a result of numerous generation unit breakdowns and a narrow supply margin.
The DEFF verbally approved the request on June 26 and, following receipt of confirmation that all environmental requirements would be met, the directive was confirmed in writing on July 6.
The DEFF notes that it has subsequently emerged that Karpowership had applied for the verbal directive in advance, in preparation for the possible implementation of the government’s Integrated Resources Plan 2019 and in the event that it would be selected as an emergency power producer.
However, the DEFF states that this information was not disclosed to it when Karpowership motivated for the verbal directive to be issued for the Section 30A activities, which the DEFF says are, in essence, an emergency provision.
The department says that, in light of the fact that it has now emerged that there was in fact no emergency situation, it has withdrawn the verbal authorisation and subsequent written directive for the start of activities listed in terms of Section 30A of the National Environmental Management Act on August 13.
The DEFF states that Karpowership has since accepted the notice and indicated that it does not intend to challenge the DEFF’s decision to revoke the verbal directive.