Name of the Project
Khanyisa coal independent power producer programme (CIPPP).

Location
Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Project Owner/s
The project is being undertaken by the ACWA Power, together with Hulisani; Thebe Investments; Pele Natural Energy, and Mazi Capital and Palace Group.

Project Description
Khanyisa is part of the first round of the CIPPP. The CIPPP is the first baseload energy programme in South Africa that allows the private sector to provide coal-generated energy.

The project involves the construction of a 306 MW coal-fired power plant using circulating fluidised-bed technology.

The plant will use the discard coal abundantly available as waste piles at the nearby Anglo American collieries, thereby significantly reducing the environmental impact of the waste on the surrounding region.

It will also eliminate the need for and the consequences of mining new coal seams.

The Khanyisa power plant is designed as a zero-liquid-effluent discharge plant to further minimise the impact on the environment.

The water used at the power plant will be reclaimed from underground mine operations in combination with a dry-cooled power plant configuration, which will minimise water consumption and negate the need to consume precious local water resources.

Khanyisa was selected in the first round of the then Department of Energy’s coal baseload IPP procurement programme in October 2016.

Potential Job Creation
The project will create between 300 job at its peak and about 150 jobs during operation.

Capital Expenditure
R1.03-billion.

Planned Start/End Date
The plant was initially supposed to be completed in December 2020.

Latest Developments
ACWA Power has been informed by the South African government that its environmental authorisation to build the coal-fired power plant in the country has expired, according to lawyers opposing the project.

The authorisation for the Khanyisa coal-fired plant lapsed on October 31, 2018, and the Saudi electricity company has opposed the ruling in South Africa’s High Court, the Cape Town-based Centre for Environmental Rights has said.

Without a valid environmental authorisation, ACWA cannot legally start building the power plant. It also cannot reach commercial or financial close under the coal IPP programme without an environmental authorisation, risking its “preferred bidder” status under the programme.

Under the ruling by the Department of Environment, Fisheries and Forestry, any further activities the company undertakes on the project would be illegal, the lawyers have said.

The ruling is the latest blow to the project. In January last year, South Africa’s Nedbank Group withdrew funding for the project as it changed its policy on coal-fired power plants to comply with investor pressure that it does more to tackle climate change.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
General Electric (engineering, procurement and construction) and Nomac and Palace Group (operation and maintenance).

Contact Details for Project Information
ACWA Power tel +27 11 722 4100 or fax +27 11 722 4113.
Hulisani, tel +27 87 806 2425 or email info@hulisani.co.za.