Construction on the Bronkhorstspruit Biogas Plant will start in June and be com-pleted in the first quarter of next year, project developer Bio 2 Watt says.
Founder Sean Thomas tells Engineering News that the project, with an initial installed capacity of 3 MW, should reach financial close by the end of May and eventually ramp up to a total capacity of 5 MW.
He explains that the plant will make use of technology supplied by Danish company ComBigaS to generate energy through anaerobic digestion. Cattle manure will be the primary feedstock of the plant, with the rest consisting essentially of food waste.
Consulting engineering company Bosch Projects will provide engineering support for the project.
Thomas says the plant will be connected to State utility Eskom’s grid and the power sold to a large industrial offtaker in Pretoria.
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) last week cancelled the public hearing on the project’s generation licence application, which was scheduled to take place on April 16.
This came as Nersa had received no comments or objections to the project and no members of the public had registered to present or attend the public hearing.