Projecting the external health costs of a coal-fired power plant: The case of Kusile

Abstract

We examine an important subset of the expected health costs associated with the commissioning of Kusile, a new coal-fired electricity generation plant in South Africa. The subset of health impacts focuses on sulphur dioxides, nitrous oxides and large particulate matter (greater than 10 mm). The analysis makes use of the Impact Pathway Approach combined with the data transfer methodology. The plant, which is expected to contribute 4 800 MW of additional electricity to the South African grid is found to have modest health impacts, partly due to the limited additional pollutant emissions expected at the plant. Specifically, additional localised external health costs are found to be in the region of 0.09c/kWh to 6.08c/kWh. Limitations of the analysis are also examined.