Barloworld to provide Walvis Bay power station
Barloworld Namibia said today that it had been awarded an EPCT (engineer, procure, construct, turnkey) contract valued at R250 million
Business Day
Creating a Landfill to Have Cleaner Air
KINGSTON, Tenn. (AP) — Smokestack scrubbers will eliminate most of the sulphur emissions from the coal-fired Kingston Fossil Plant, but they will also produce a new waste stream for a site still engaged in a $1 billion cleanup from a huge ash spill.
New York Times 7 November 2009
Sonjica: Emissions to start dropping from 2035
Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:12
South Africa's greenhouse gas emissions will continue rising over the next 16 years, and only start dropping from about 2035. [Full Story...]
Business Report
EXTRACTS FROM CREAMER’S ‘MINING WEEKLY’
COAL
Exxaro takes coal business into high-margin downstream arena
The JSE-listed diversified mining company Exxaro on Thursday took its coal business downstream in a move that has the potential to match the current earnings of its flagship Grootegeluk coal mine in the next five years. In opening its R300-million, 140 000-t/y char plant in Lephalale, Exxaro CEO Sipho Nkosi told Mining Weekly Online: “We are today satisfying the South African government’s great passion to go downstream with locally mined products, to add value and to provide jobs in this country.” Full Article
COAL
Homeland needs to raise R70m for SA coal project
TSX-listed coal-miner Homeland Energy was attempting to raise R70-million, which it was required to invest in its Kendal operation, in South Africa's Mpumalanga province, in terms of an amended credit facility with Nedbank Capital, the company said on Wednesday. Homeland said it had entered into an agreement with Nedbank Capital to amend the terms of an existing credit facility, which would require it to invest the additional funds by January. Full Article
COAL
Design completed for first phase of Miranda’s maiden coal mine
JSE-listed minerals exploration and development company Miranda Resources on Friday reported that it has advanced towards the commissioning its first coal mine during its financial year, which ended on August 31, 2009. Miranda had been granted its first mining right for the Sesikhona project, in KwaZulu-Natal, and work on a second mining concession, the Uithoek project, also in KwaZulu-Natal, should be finalised by early 2010. Further, the group’s third mining right at the Burnside project, in the same province, had been submitted to the Department of Mineral Resources. Full Article
COAL
Firestone-Sekoko JV acquires surface rights in Waterberg
ASX- and JSE-listed Firestone Energy and its joint-venture (JV) partner, Sekoko Coal, have acquired surface rights to a farm that formed an important part of its Waterberg coal project. The JV had acquired the surface rights of the 1 160 ha Smitspan farm, in the Waterberg region, which it said contained the majority of the continuous coal sequence contained under all six farms that formed part of the JV agreement, signed by the parties in July. Full Article
EXTRACTS FROM CREAMER’S ‘ENGINEERING NEWS’
CARBON EMISSIONS
Global CO2 emissions to drop 2,8% in '09 - report
Global carbon dioxide emissions are set to fall an estimated 2,8% this year because of the financial crisis, after having risen two percent in 2008, a leading annual report on the globe's "carbon budget" says. The Global Carbon Project report, released just weeks before a major UN climate conference in Copenhagen, shows emissions from developing nations continuing to soar, driven in large part by consumer demand in rich countries. Full Article
ELECTRICITY
Botswana, Namibia to ramp up Zim power generation
ENERGY
Eskom’s base-load expansion to focus on coal for now
State-owned power utility Eskom would be looking to expand its base-load capabilities within the next twelve months, if demand side management (DSM) initiatives did not achieve its saving target, GM for sustainability and innovation Wendy Poulton said on Wednesday. Speaking to an energy conference hosted by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) she said that the immediate options to increase the base-load would not include nuclear, as this option was too time consuming to roll out. Full Article
OIL & GAS
SA sees more significant oil, gas potential
South Africa has the potential to become a more significant oil and gas producer, with a new petroleum act paving the way for more exploration, an official at the Petroleum Agency of South Africa said on Friday. David van der Spuy, the agency's manager for resource evaluation, said companies active in the country have resumed exploration put on hold during the changes in the law and other companies have come in to secure blocks both on and offshore. Full Article
ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
SA thin-film solar plant may be operating within ‘two-and-a-half years'
Energy and chemicals group Sasol, which is a coinvestor in the development of a thin film solar-panel technology start-up enterprise, reported on Friday that the "development phase" for a commercial-scale project should begin in Germany in December, opening the way for a South African production facility that could become operational within "two-and-a-half" years. The head of the JSE-listed group's new energy unit, Henri Loubser, confirmed that the facility would be established in Paarl, in... Full Article
NUCLEAR
SA could have new nuclear power station by 2020 – Peters
South Africa could have a new nuclear power station operational by 2020, and still has an aspiration to add some 20 000 MW of nuclear capacity over the coming decades, Energy Minister Dipuo Peters said on Friday. However, a specific date for the build of the second nuclear power generator would only be set after the finalisation of an integrated resource plan (IRP), she told journalists on the sidelines of a seminar on nuclear energy. Full Article
SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING
Sasol's emissions fell in 2009 in line with the economy
JSE-listed energy and chemicals producer Sasol decreased its absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 71,3-million tons in 2009 as compared with 73,6-million tons in 2008, the company revealed in its 2009 sustainable development report, which was released on Friday. However, it said that its emissions intensity, based on the carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent for every ton of production, increased to 3,24 compared with 3 in 2008. Full Article
