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Wednesday, September 10, 2008.

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Shannon O'Donnell.

Making headlines today:

The operator of the Coega Industrial Development Zone is seeking to appoint an adviser to assist in the construction and operation of a gas-fired power station. The station could contribute as much as 3 200 MW to the country's grid by late 2012.

The project will be rolled out in three phases. The first phase will contribute 800 MW of electricity to the national grid by early 2011. Further expansions could boost capacity to 1 600 MW, 2 400 MW and possibly 3 200 MW by late 2012.

Coega Development Corporation spokesperson Senzeni Ndebele said that various government entities were involved the project. He declined to name the parties.

An estimated 20 000 MW will be needed from independent power producers by 2025. This takes into account the predicted demand and expected supply from State-owned electricity supplier Eskom.

IPPs were still unable to compete with the cost of electricity produced by Eskom. But Firestone Africa vice president Clarence Oelofse said that the expected steep increases in the national power tariff was good news for private producers.

He said that Eskom's coal-fired electricity had a supply cost of about 25c/kWh, while nuclear-generated power's cost was estimated at 50c/kWh.

Total Coal South Africa vice-president Diego De Bourges said on Tuesday that South African coal miners should be allowed to generate their own coal-fired electricity at new mines using their own coal waste.

He told the Mining Summit 2008 in Johannesburg that coal miners like Total had coal waste that could be turned to valuable account in self-generation initiatives.

He said that it had sufficient energy to fuel an on-site power station, which could be used initially to supply electricity to the new mine alone and then also to other mines within a mining group. He noted that the calorific value of such coal waste was too low to be transported economically.

Also making headlines:

Oil falls $1 as a strong dollar counters storm fears
The autocat industry calls for ‘substantial' new incentives as South Africa phases out the MIDP
Lafarge investigates the use of alternative fuels for its boiler operations
Rockwell Diamonds urges shareholders to take no action on an 'opportunistic' takeover bid
The Waterberg's coal-bed methane potential could boost South Africa's liquid fuel output
And, a South African union reiterates its call for a State-owned mining company

In political news:

A poll shows a big shift to John McCain among white women
Democrats hit Bush on his troop plan
The SACP says that donation row fears made Phillip Dexter quit
And, Jacob Zuma says the judiciary is not above criticism

That's a round up of news making headlines today. For more on these and other stories, visit engineeringnews.co.za, miningweekly.com and polity.org.za

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