Chemicals, explosives and property company AECI said on Tuesday that it was looking to build a R200-million, 25-MW gas-fired power station at its Modderfontein site, near Johannesburg, which it could commission in two years. However, the project depended on the availability of gas Graham Edwards, who takes the reins as CEO on March 1, said.

The group only used some 12 MW of power, so the balance could be added to the national grid, and AECI would use excess steam for its planned nitric acid plant, he said.

The problem was that the company was of the understanding that South Africa's biggest gas supplier Sasol Gas did not have enough capacity in its pipeline that runs nearby AECI's Modderfontein site to supply a power station.

Edwards told Engineering News Online in an interview in Johannesburg that if it could not secure gas from Sasol, the company would look at other fuel sources, including coal and landfill gas.

"We have thought of that," he said, when asked if the company could use methane gas from the nearby Linbro Park landfill to fuel a power station.

However, Edwards stressed that such a plant required security of fuel supply over the long term, and at economical prices.

"I am not convinced," he said. "We've looked at that very superficially."

"It may supplement [fuel supply]," Edwards stated, adding that the logistics of transporting the gas from the landfill to the site of the proposed plant - several kilometres away - would have to be overcome.

He said that if AECI used landfill gas to fuel the planned power station, the company would get carbon credits.

The other option was for the JSE-listed company to enter into an agreement with a coal mining firm to secure coal supplies, which Edwards stated AECI was also considering.

Should the company go ahead with its power generation plans, the 25-MW generation capacity would not be insignificant, with South Africa currently suffering from a severe electricity shortage.

Mines around the country have been operating at 90% of their average power consumption since January, as State-owned Eskom raced to stabilise the power grid.

Eskom said in a media report that its biggest users might have to operate at the 90% power level until 2012.

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