The African Development Bank (AfDB) approved the recommendations of the Fourth Monitoring Report of the Independent Review Mechanism on the implementation of the Updated Management Action Plan for Medupi Power Project in South Africa.

The IRM monitoring Report indicated that Eskom applied a high degree of professionalism in the construction and operation of the Medupi Power Plant, particularly focusing on security and safety, and monitoring the emissions and water discharge of the Project. In addition, the Bank Management has continued to carry out semi-annual supervision missions as well to report on progress related to the implementation of the Updated Action Plan.

However, the report noted three critical outstanding and interlinked issues which require further attention by Eskom to ensure the project complies with the relevant Bank policies and procedures. These are: Compliance with Air Quality Minimum Emission Standards and Spikes in Emissions; the timely installation of the FGD equipment to abate the SO2 emissions; and the timely securing of sufficient water to operate the last three FGD units.

The Medupi Power Project, which is currently in its operational phase, is a 4,764 MW coal-fired power plant in Lephalale, Limpopo Province, South Africa. On 25 November 2009, the Board of Directors of the Africa Development Bank approved a loan not exceeding EUR 930 million for the supply and installation of six boilers and turbo-generators in the project, which is also co-financed by the World Bank. At the time of the Board’s approval, the total project cost was estimated at EUR 11.2 billion.

A complaint about this project was registered in October 2010, with complainants requesting for investigations into plausible violations of a wide range of Bank policies related to the project’s potential negative impacts, including climate change issues, environmental impacts on the air, water and land quality around the project, and inadequate public consultations with affected people and communities.

Eskom operates South Africa’s national grid, which comprises 381,594km of high, medium and low voltage power lines and 285,737MVA of substation capacity, fed from 30 power stations with a nominal capacity of 45,561MW. The utility contributes approximately 77 percent of the total installed power capacity in the Southern Africa Power Pool (SAPP).

Eskom is central to the realization of the Bank’s New Deal on Energy for Africa strategy, the ongoing financial, technical and capacity support for the utility company aligns with the Bank’s High 5 priorities.