Projects and energy updates from South Africa

Kenya: Menengai geothermal project receives funding

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a senior loan of US$29.5 million and a concessional loan of US$20 million from the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) Clean Technology Fund (CTF) to Quantum Power East Africa GT Menengai.

The funding will be directed towards the development of a 35 MW geothermal power plant at the Menengai geothermal field in Nakuru County, one of three modular geothermal plants in the Menengai field with a combined capacity of 105 MW.

Deputy Prime Minister of Energy and Public Utilities, Ivan Collendavelloo, laid the foundation stone of the Henrietta solar Photovoltaic (PV) farm, with a capacity of 2 MWp.

The solar PV farm, located close to the Tamarind Falls Dam, is a project led by the Central Electricity Board (Green Energy). The construction of the solar farm started in April 2018 and is expected to be operational by the end of November 2018.

The farm is expected to generate approximately 3 GWh of renewable energy annually.

South Africa's flagship gas-to-liquids (GTL) refinery at Mossel Bay could run out of natural gas within two years when offshore reserves dry up. 

The Mossel Bay GTL plant, one of the world's largest, is operated by state-owned national oil and gas company PetroSA, a subsidiary of the government's Central Energy Fund.

The Mossel Bay plant, located on the south coast, accounts for around 6% of South Africa's refining capacity but is operating at less than half of its capacity of 45 000 bbl/d of oil equivalent due to dwindling reserves. "We are in a position where between 2020 and 2022 we might not have any gas available," said Luvo Makasi, chairperson of the fund's board.

A new analysis finds G20 countries are investing heavily in fossil gas in direct contradiction with Paris Agreement goals they have agreed to, according to a report titled “Debunked: The G20 Clean Gas Myth”’. 

G20 countries are projected to host investment of over US$1.6 trillion in new gas projects by 2030. If this happens, emissions unlocked through 2050 would make it extremely difficult to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, which has been signed by all G20 members.

The Democratic Republic of Congo plans to start work in 2018 on the frequently delayed Inga 3 hydropower project, after receiving a joint bid from two previously competing groups of investors.

A treaty signed in 2013 provided for the Inga 3 plant to export 2500 MW of the 4800 MW of the power produced to SA. About 1300 MW is expected to go to the DRC mining sector while the remaining 1000 MW will go towards meeting domestic demand.

The plant would form part of a larger Grand Inga hydropower complex spanning the Congo River and produce as much as 50 000 MW when complete. 

In light of the Department of Environmental Affairs’ (DEA’s) imminent ban on all forms of liquid waste to landfill set for August 2019 and the ban on hazardous waste to landfill with a calorific value greater than 25 MJ/kg since August 2017, waste management services provider Interwaste states that the waste management industry must become innovative with its disposal methods.

South Africa currently generates more than 42 million cubic metres of waste a year, of which approximately one-million tons are liquid chemical waste that ought to be handled with care, says Interwaste technical director Mike Nicholls. 

Nicholls suggests that innovative disposal methods can turn hazardous liquid chemical waste into a profitable energy source for the South African economy. 

Engineering News, 15 June 2018 

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