Aggreko expands Moz-based power plant to supply midtier power to Namibia

12th September 2013

By: Creamer Media Reporter

  

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From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, this is the Real Economy Report. Temporary power solutions provider Aggreko has officially launched Phase 2 of its cross-border interim power project at Gigawatt Park, in Ressano Garcia, Mozambique. Samantha Moolman has the story.

Samantha Moolman:
Having signed a power purchase agreement with Namibian power utility NamPower in March, Aggreko had Mozambique Energy Minister Salvador Namburete unveil the $200-million expansion project, which now adds 122 MW of capacity to the original gas-fired facility. The plant now generates 232 MW of power to Mozambique, South Africa and Namibia’s respective power utilities.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Nampower MD Paulinus Shilamba expressed his gratitude that the negotiations between NamPower and Aggreko, which started last year, had officially borne fruit.

NamPower MD Paulinus Shilamba:
The Sadc region is facing a shortage of power, which will prevail for the next three to four years. In Namibia, the power supply deficit and associated challenges will continue until the commissioning of a new base load power station in 2018.

Given the unavailability of power, utilities in the region, including NamPower, are working on a number of generation transmission projects, to try and meet the ever-increasing demand for power supply.

NamPower initiated the short-term critical supply project (STCS), under which a number of short- and medium-term initiatives will be implemented to address the immediate power supply shortage.

The public agreement between NamPower and Aggreko forms part of the STCS programme. As part of this programme, NamPower will continue to negotiate new power purchase agreement with neighbouring utilities and independent power producers, while renegotiating existing agreements.

This project is a triumph for our STCS programme, and its inauguration here today marks an important milestone in the development of Namibia’s power sector.

Samantha Moolman:
Of the 122 MW generated through Phase 2 of the project, NamPower will now receive 90 MW of mid-merit power, with the remaining 32 MW reserved for Mozambique power utility EDM.

This adds to the 15 MW of power that EDM already receives from Phase 1 of the project, which provides South Africa’s power utility Eskom with 92.5 MW.

The expansion makes Ressano Garcia the world’s largest cross-border interim power plant. Aggreko Europe, Middle East and Africa regional MD David Taylor-Smith explains the significance of the project as a whole.

Aggreko Europe, Middle East and Africa regional MD David Taylor-Smith:
Phase 1 had lots of unique features, including the time taken to build what was then a 110 MW power station, build a substation, build 3 km of power lines…

That took 29 weeks, so that was a record  – no-one’s ever done it that quickly. The other thing that was unique was taking gas from Mozambique and using it to generate power across border which, for an interim power solution was unique at the time.

And obviously we’ve extended it to one other country. So it’s now tripartite.

Samantha Moolman:
The Ressano Garcia plant is strategically placed on the border between Mozambique and South Africa, which enables Aggreko to feed power to up to nine different countries, opening up the possibility for further expansion.

Aggreko Southern and East Africa MD James Shepherd spoke to Engineering News about the future of the gas-fired power plant.

Aggreko Southern and East Africa MD James Shepherd:
We have the two phases taking us to 250 MW a day and the capability to take it to 400 MW

We are in negotiations with other utilities and other utilities around the Southern African Power Port to expand the power plant further, and I would hope that by the end of this year we’ll be in a position to announce further expansion of the plant.

It’s a fantastic project. You look at the cooperation between three countries and a private IPP, and it shows what can be achieved when people put their heads together and make a commitment to do the right thing and use the natural resources in Africa.

Shannon de Ryhove:
Other news making headlines this week: Sasol unveils Project 2050 SA investment plan amid disinvestment claims; Partnerships and new thinking are needed for regenerative-city plans to prevail; and Louisiana extends $1-billion in incentives for Sasol investments.

Sasol CEO David Constable has unveiled plans for ‘Project 2050’, an initiative which he says is designed to sustain and expand the company’s integrated value chain in Southern Africa until at least the middle of the century.

Sasol CEO David Constable

Strong consensus emerged at a recent Infrastructure Dialogues gathering last month that a combination of behavioural change and partnerships between the private sector, civil society and government is needed in order for city-level regenerative initiatives to have any chance of success.

Energy Intensive User Group project director and adviser Shaun Nel

South African energy and chemicals group Sasol has secured investment incentives collectively valued at around $1-billion from the state of Louisiana, in the US, to support its proposed development of an ethane cracker and a gas to liquids facility in the Lake Charles area.

Sasol Head of global chemicals and North American operations André de Ruyter

That’s Creamer Media’s Real Economy Report. Join us again next week for more news and insight into South Africa’s real economy.

Edited by Shannon de Ryhove
Contributing Editor

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