Eskom wants to look at dirty air data

Eskom is going to scrutinize Greenpeace’s data on dirty air in Mpumalanga.

Eskom reacted to the environmental watchdog’s utterance that the power utility is to blame for the high concentration of dirty air in the province.

“It has been reported before that the eMalahleni area has the world’s dirtiest air, and now this analysis of high tech satellite data has revealed that the Mpumalanga province is the global number one hotspot for NO2 emissions. This confirms that South Africa has the most polluting cluster of coal-fired power stations in the world which is both disturbing and very scary” said Melita Steele, senior Climate and Energy Campaign Manager for Greenpeace Africa.

“Stating the whole of Mpumalanga is misleading and an over simplification of a complex problem. Eskom has carried out extensive monitoring of ground level pollution over the last 30 years; it is evident from this monitoring that there are pockets of ‘dirty air’ in Mpumalanga. The impact of Eskom power stations is evident mostly at distances of 5km to 10km downwind of power stations, there are other low level sources which contribute to the ‘dirty air’ ̶ these include domestic combustion from households burning coal, especially in winter, veld fires and traffic,” the power utility’s media desk said.

Eskom wants direct access to the referenced data.

“Eskom will retrieve the data mentioned and will continue to evaluate the satellite derived photographs of tropospheric pollutants as it has done since 2006. It is however, not new information that the Highveld is an area of elevated tropospheric NO2.”

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The power utility acknowledges that all pollution sources need to be minimised so that health impacts can be reduced. All Eskom power stations currently comply with the NO2 Minimum Emissions Standards (MES) and continue to develop improved technology of low NOx burners to reduce emissions.

Eskom power station stacks (chimneys) are also intentionally built tall enough to allow all Eskom emissions to be emitted above the lower tropospheric boundary layer to ensure that the pollution is diluted by the time it reaches ground level, in other words the surface concentrations, the air which people breathe, are not as high as concentrations above the surface. Ambient air quality monitoring stations positioned across Mpumalanga confirm that NO2 concentrations do not exceed the ambient air quality standards on the Highveld.

“It is true that Particulate matter (PM2.5) is the pollutant that has the highest impact on human health. It is also true that there are residential areas on the Highveld that do experience concentrations of PM2.5 that exceed the National Ambient Air Quality Standards at certain times of the year. It has to be acknowledged, however, that the bulk of the PM2.5 emissions in these regions with high health impacts are emitted by low level sources such as veld fires and domestic combustion of coal for cooking and heating and not from Eskom power stations.”

Eskom is in the firing line because of the dirty air in Mpumalanga.

The power giant said they remain committed to continually reducing emissions, in addition to low NOx burners to reduce NO2, most power stations have been retrofitted with technology which reduces particulate emissions below new plant emission standards or a progressive step toward this.

Kusile power station is the first power station to be retrofitted with flue gas desulphurisation to reduce sulphur dioxide.

“As older power stations are decommissioned, the total emissions from Eskom will reduce significantly and the air quality in Mpumulanga will improve. Eskom is not only reducing emissions from its power stations but has initiated a project which will switch thousands of low cost houses from using coal to using cleaner energy. This offset project includes the insulation of houses increasing minimum temperatures and comfort levels in homes.”

Coal fired power stations continue to contribute to the economy of South Africa in many ways, the transition to cleaner technologies such as renewable and cleaner coal fired power stations is gaining momentum, as identified in the latest draft Integrated Resource Plan, there is benefit and opportunity in a diverse energy mix which is selected based on socio-economic and environmental considerations.