Electricity utility Eskom will issue a request for proposals (RFP) “imminently” for the supply of gas to the Ankerlig and Gourikwa open-cycle gas turbine (OCGT) power stations in the Western Cape, which currently produce electricity using diesel.

CEO André de Ruyter confirmed the preparation for the RFP documentation during a load-shedding briefing on April 13, and indicated that the tender would be published soon on the utility’s tender portal.

He also indicated that the market would need to take account of the fact that Eskom still intended to operate the OCGT plants at a relatively low capacity factor, which was unlikely to justify the cost of a floating storage and regasification unit and new pipeline infrastructure.

Bidders would, thus, be encouraged to tailor their offers to that reality, even though Eskom has been using the power stations outside of peak periods in recent years to limit the intensity of load-shedding, or to enable it to bolster pumped storage reserves.

“We are in the final throes of being able to prepare that submission to the market and that should reach the market imminently,” he said, indicating that Eskom would entertain containerised liquefied natural gas (LNG) solutions should these be offered and if they met its needs.

There was no discussion about the price and availability of LNG, the demand for which is expected to surge in light of moves across Europe to wean itself off piped Russian gas following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

De Ruyter said Eskom also continued to consider prospects for repowering some of its decommissioning power stations in Mpumalanga using gas-to-power technology.

“We are currently looking at a variety of different options, including on a similar basis to making available Mpumalanga land.

“[In other words], testing the appetite of the market to also install gas turbines at our existing coal stations given the fact that some of them are in quite close proximity to the main gas transmission infrastructure from Mozambique.”

However, De Ruyter stressed that, besides Eskom’s balance sheet limitations, there were also several regulatory and technical  obstacles that would have to be overcome before it could approach the market for bids.

To address its funding constraints, Eskom could consider either a public-private partnership model, or opening up the sites entirely to independent power producers.

Work was still also required to assess the value of brownfield power station conversions, which could prove technically more challenging than greenfield projects.

In addition, the efficiency losses associated with operating a gas turbine at altitude would have to be considered.

Given that such projects were also likely to exceed the 100 MW threshold for embedded generation projects to proceed without a licence, several regulatory hurdles would also need to be overcome, including the securing of a Section 34 Ministerial determination that was aligned with the Integrated Resource Plan of 2019 (IRP2019).

In February, Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe said he expected Eskom to make an application for a Section 34 determination to facilitate gas-to-power generation at some of the coal power stations scheduled for decommissioning.

Mantashe indicated that the determination would be “in addition” to the 3 000 MW allocation for gas-to-power in the IRP2019, which outlines the new electricity generation to be introduced to the system by 2030.

“There is, therefore, quite a regulatory road for us to travel before these plants can be either repurposed or can be made available for private investors to use as a base for installing their own merchant gas-fired plants,” De Ruyter added.