- The Coal Transporters Forum (CTF) case to interdict government from implementing its independent power producers (IPP) programme has been dismissed.
- The High Court in Pretoria yesterday dismissed the application after reserving judgement on the case for the past week.
- This follows another failed attempt by labour union NUMSA to do the same in March 2018. Read more
The Coal Transporters Forum (CTF) case to interdict government from implementing its independent power producers (IPP) programme has been dismissed. The Coal Transporters Forum is a voluntary association who has got the back of over 50 companies transporting coal and logistical services for Eskom. They feel their members jobs are under threat by the countries renewable energy power independent power producer programme (REIPPP).
The association claimed Eskom may not conclude power purchase agreements (PPAs) with the independent power producers until Nersa had taken certain decisions, and furthermore wanted the court to declare all the PPAs Eskom had already concluded as invalid.
The judgement declared that the claim to interdict Eskom from concluding the PPAs is largely irrelevant because PPA’s for Round 4 have already been signed and only three companies have not yet signed PPAs in respect of the Small Projects IPP programme.
Furthermore, the judge found the CTF’s criticism of the evidence presented by Nersa and the IPPs regarding the issuing of the electricity generation licences was without merit.
“Government’s policy accepts that coal will remain the primary source of energy generation for the foreseeable future. However, it also acknowledges that coal has significant detrimental impacts on the environment, resulting in measurable external costs as well as other costs – the most significant impact is the emission of greenhouse gases,” according to the judgment.
“In view of the environmental and health impacts of coal and the need to diversify the sources of supply to maintain energy security, government’s energy policy supports and promotes the development of renewable energy to achieve a more sustainable energy mix.”
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
