Review of the environmental authorization followed during the construction of Eskom's Kusile and Medupi power stations, South Africa

Abstract

Environmental impact assessment follow-up has been widely addressed by various researchers. However, there is still a gap in the actual implementation of this process. This study addresses this gap by evaluating the effectiveness of implementing the environmental authorizations of Eskom’s Kusile and Medupi Power Stations during the construction phase. The main aim of the study is to determine whether the environmental authorization conditions were effectively implemented by project developers and whether full compliance which could lead towards sustainable development was at the forefront of Kusile and Medupi developments. The survey method was used whereby questionnaires were formulated and completed by fifty (50) participants involved in the implementation of both power stations’ environmental authorizations. The results showed that the importance of protecting the environment and overall compliance with the projects’ environmental authorization conditions are well understood and implemented. However, some of the responses indicated the difficulty in implementing certain environmental authorization conditions such as retaining existing vegetation cover. About Nineteen (19) external audit reports (of which nine were for Kusile and ten for Medupi) between the periods of 2008 to 2014 were reviewed and the audit results shown good percentage of over 90% compliance with the environmental authorization at both power stations. In conclusion, the environmental authorizations were well implemented by both Kusile and Medupi Power Stations. The environmental management through compliance with the environmental authorization is at the forefront of the Eskom’s developments and thus promotes sustainable development. The outcome of this study has a wide application that includes application to any new project that involves building infrastructure.