The Coega Development Corporation (CDC) has issued a tender notice for an environmental-impact assessment (EIA) for its proposed combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power facility, in the Coega industrial development zone (IDZ), near Port Elizabeth.

The gas-fired plant would link up to a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal and berth at the Port of Ngqura and would support government’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) and a 2012 Ministerial Determination allocation of 2 652 MW for energy from natural gas between 2021 and 2025.

“The project also slots into Operation Phakisa – the government’s ‘big fast results’ programme to unlock economic growth and development through an oceans economy.

“Up to this point, Coega and various State organs undertook a lot of valuable preparatory work. The technical feasibility and financial viability of the project have been broadly established,” CDC energy sector manager Sandisiwe Ncemane noted.

The integrated project between the Ngqura deep-sea port and the CDC entailed a special berth, which made provision for cryogenic sea vessels or LNG carriers, a processing facility that would convert LNG into gas and a 2 km pipeline to the power plant that would generate electricity from natural gas. The gas plant would also be 4 km from the Dedisa substation, significantly reducing costs.

The proposed CCGT plant would be the second power plant in the Coega IDZ after the Dedisa peaking power plant – a liquid fuels open-cycle gas turbine with a 342 MW generation capacity.

Last month, Dedisa transferred power to the national grid during a test exercise and the facility was scheduled to go on line later this year.

“Policy developments such as the proposed Gas Utilisation Master Plan and the establishment of the gas independent power producer procurement programme inform the progress on the development of the LNG terminal and second gas power plant in the Coega IDZ,” Ncemane said.

GAS IN SOUTH AFRICA
South Africa currently had three offshore gas production fields off the south coast and, while there was no active onshore exploration, many operators were carrying out desktop studies.

The Petroleum Agency of South Africa this week announced that 45 companies had active onshore and offshore permits and rights.

In terms of shale gas mining in the Karoo, Ncemane said exploration licences were due to be issued sometime between 2020 and 2022, after the completion of the EIA, which was due in 2018.

“There is a close association between South Africa’s proposed shale gas mining site in the Karoo and the LNG solution and pipeline at the Port of Ngqura,” he highlighted.