A high-level Department of Energy (DoE) official has reported that the long-delayed open-cycle gas turbine (OCGT), or peaker plants, will reach financial closure during May.

Speaking on the sidelines of a function hosted to facilitate the financial closure of 19 renewable-energy projects on Thursday, deputy director-general Ompi Aphane told Engineering News Online on Thursday that the “peakers should reach financial close next week”.

The two OCGT projects, known as Avon and Dedisa, were being developed by the Suez-Inkanyezi consortium, which is led by GDF Suez, of France.

The combined nameplate capacity of the plants will be 1 005 MW, with a 670 MW facility planned for near Shakaskraal, north of Durban, and a second 335 MW plant for Coega Industrial Development Zone, in the Eastern Cape.

Initially, the DoE selected an AES-led consortium as the preferred bidder, but negotiations were terminated in April 2008.

A month later, talks were launched with Suez-Inkanyezi, which was the only other respondent to the DoE’s initial request for proposals (RFP).

Aphane also revealed that work was well advanced on tender documentation for the procurement of cogenerated electricity from the sugar and timber industry, with a recent Ministerial Determination indicating that 1 000 MW of capacity could be procured from renewable biomass power generators. That document should be released in the second half of 2013.

LET DOWN BY MINERS

Less progress had been made on procuring new coal-fired capacity, with Aphane indicating that the DoE had been “let down” by those miners that had initially indicated that had advanced discard-coal power generation prospects.

It was confirmed recently that the independent power producer (IPP) project being facilitated by Anglo American Thermal Coal, in Mpumalanga, had been deferred.

The plan was for Anglo American Platinum to be the sole offtaker of the electricity from the proposed 450 MW Khanyisa power project. But this would have placed further stress on the embattled company’s balance sheet.

“We were very disappointed about that, because we were really hoping that the own-generation opportunities would kick in. Unfortunately, we were let down [by Anglo and Xstrata],” Aphane lamented.

But IPP coal-fired prospects would still be pursued. However, the DoE would probably release another request for information in the coming months to test the market.

It could also pursue direct negotiations with possible domestic and regional coal-fired IPPs.

“In other words there will be two streams: a negotiated stream and a conventional open bidding processes.”

A similar model would be pursued in the gas sector, with the negotiated process likely to start within months.

In the coming months, Aphane said IPP developers could look forward to RFPs being released for the biomass cogeneration projects, as well as for small-scale renewables. In addition, work would advance on “the negotiated gas” deals.