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Court sets aside the approval for new coal plant
- Environmental impact of coal mining to blame
- ACWA Power failed to get mandatory environmental authorisation
A South African High Court has set aside the approval to construct a new coal power plant by ACWA Power. The Court ruled that ACWA Power had failed to get the required environmental authorisation for the project. The environmental group GroundWork filed a suit against ACWA Power to challenge the project in 2017.
GroundWork which was represented by the Center for Environmental Rights (CER), sought the revocation of the approval for the project due to the failure of ACWA to assess the project’s impact on climate change and also the failure of the former Energy Minister to consider the impact of the project on the environment.
“The successful legal challenges against the Khanyisa project are further testimony to the strength of public interest litigation and civil society opposition in opposing dangerous and risky new coal projects. Our courts will uphold the requirement for regulatory approvals to meet the requirements of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights,” says CER attorney Michelle Koyama.