The water use licence report for Kuyasa Mining subsidiary KiPower’s proposed 600 MW independent power producer coal-fired plant, about 20 km south-east of Delmas, in Mpumalanga, would be published for public review and comment on July 23.
The coal-fired power plant, which along with its associated infrastructure was estimated to cost $1.7-billion to develop, would use coal from the nearby Delmas coal mine and could be used to meet a portion of South Africa’s power needs.
It may, subject to several further studies and authorisations, be expanded to produce up to 2 000 MW in the long term.
Required infrastructure would include a coal conveyor between the Delmas colliery and the plant, a limestone conveyor between the plant and the rail line, a water supply pipeline from an existing Rand Water line, an ash disposal facility (ADF) and an ash conveyor.
KiPower had targeted construction to start in 2015, with the first of the plant’s three units expected to be operational by 2018.
The water uses that had been identified and applied for under the National Water Act included the abstraction of contaminated water, the storage of water at the power plant and ADF, and impeding or diverting the flow of water in a watercourse owing to road upgrades, as well as the development of a Wilge River bridge crossing, conveyors, power plant, ADF and a wetland offset project.
The company had also applied for stormwater discharges from the construction area, the discharge of excess treated water during operations in times of extreme rainfall events and disposing of waste in a manner which could detrimentally impact on a water resource.
The water use licence report would be available for public comment on the website of consultants Jones & Wagener, until September 2.