South Africa - Medupi Power Project

Medupi power project will stabilise the electricity trade in the Southern Africa Region. It consists of the construction of a coal-fired base load power plant in Lephalale, Limpopo Province, comprising of six units with an installed capacity of 4,764 MW. Although the project is located in Limpopo province, the project will feed into national electricity grid and the entire country will reap benefits through reliable power supply. The construction of the power plant commenced in May 2008. The first unit will be commissioned by February 2012, and each subsequent unit will be commissioned at an interval of six months. The plant will deploy the super-critical boiler technology with increased plant efficiency, reduced coal consumption and reduced CO2 emissions. These units are planned as direct dry-cooled units such as those at the existing Matimba power station, thereby reducing water consumption requirement in significant ways compared to wet cooling technology. The project is estimated to cost Euro 11.19 billion. USD 60 million has been allocated to climate finance, 100% of which is dedicated to mitigation.