Follow us on twitter!News Flash 8 November 2011
The FFF 16th Clean Coal to Clean Energy Conference 1 – 2 November 2011
Engineering news
Coal will continue to play a key role in SA power future
The use of coal to generate power in South Africa would only stop when the resource was depleted, and not because it would be replaced by renewable energy, XMP Consulting senior coal analyst Xavier Prevost said on Tuesday.
Speaking at the Fossil Fuel Foundation’s 16th Southern African Conference on Clean Coal to Clean Energy, he added that there were many challenges related to the application of the IRP, particularly funding.
South Africa, the world’s sixth-largest coal producer, aims to move away from its 93% dependence on coal for power as it undertakes to reduce domestic greenhouse-gas emissions by 34% against a ‘business as usual’ baseline by 2020 . The South African government, he believed, did not take into account the reality of the costs associated with renewables. Read More.....
Moneyweb
Fracking debate rages on
SA top South African scientist called for the lifting of the moratorium on drilling for shale gas in the Karoo to allow for critical information to be gathered about the apparent mammoth deposit.
Professor Danie Vermeulen, the director of the Institute for Groundwater Studies at the University of the Free State (UFS), addressed delegates at The Fossil Fuel Foundation of Africa's (FFF) 16th Southern African Conference on Clean Coal to Clean Energy.
Vermeulen, who grew up in the Karoo and began his career as a geologist, has a PhD in geohydrology from the UFS and has specialised since then in groundwater issues in the mining industry. He stated that he is neither pro- nor anti-fracking but that we need to know more. Read More.....
Mineweb.com
Coal still important for SA but, adaption and development vital
In 2010, coal contributed around R73bn to South Africa's economy, second only to platinum.
But, according to Paul White, a consultant and co-director of The Fossil Fuel Foundation of Africa (FFF), were it no longer available, it would cost the country between R260bn and R422bn per year.
Speaking at the FFF's 16th Southern African Conference on Clean Coal to Clean Energy. White emphasised that coal should not be considered a "dirty" word and urged that a complete risk analysis of "business as usual" be compared to the risks of a cut back in development. With South Africa's estimated coal reserves of 33 billion tonnes, White argued that despite the negative public perception of coal, it offers a widely distributed, large resource base which currently provided affordable energy security.
The key he believes is how we manage this valuable resource as well as our ability to innovate and adapt. Read More......
Engineering News
September power consumption, output up
South Africa’s electricity consumption rose by 1.9% in September, while production increased by 2.4%, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) reported on Thursday. Power delivered to by Eskom to the provinces grew by 1.7% in September. Stats SA said the growth was driven by increases in six of the nine provinces, of which the biggest volume increase was reported in Mpumalanga (208 GWh), followed by Gauteng (128 GWh). Read More.....
Carbon tax will snag beneficiation plans, says Exxaro CEO Sipho Nkosi
The possible introduction of carbon tax on top of rising electricity tariffs, higher labour costs and statutory social obligations could stop mineral beneficiation from taking place in South Africa, says Exxaro CEO Sipho Nkosi. In the last two years, coal-miner Exxaro has been producing char from coal, which it sells into the ferroalloys industry at three times the price of coal. Read More.....
Financial Mail
Use it or lose it
The idea that SA’s coal industry needs a co-ordinated “road map”, or long- term plan, was first aired four years ago by a handful of its top executives — Eskom’s Steve Lennon, Exxaro’s Sipho Nkosi and Anglo American’s Roger Wicks.
The team, organised by the Fossil Fuel Foundation, an industry think-tank, had to overcome issues such as the coal companies’ desire to keep market-sensitive data confidential, and possibly breaching the Competition Act, if they shared information. In 2008 the Department of Minerals & Energy was split into two, one department focusing on minerals, the other on energy.
While key staff was moved around, the project had to wait. It has taken three years, and some energetic problem-solving, to reach a point where the first report of the SA Coal Road Map project is about to be released. The report will help the country plan what to do with its coal deposits over the next few decades. Read More.....
Financial Mail
Rattling the chain
Transnet CEO Brian Molefe cannot conceal his satisfaction at Transnet Freight Rail’s recent achievements on the much- criticised coal rail line to the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT).
The coal companies, though, are more cautiously enthusiastic, after several years in which rail deliveries to the port have been stagnant or falling. This is an industry that needs to plan if it is to deliver. RBCT completed a capacity upgrade this year to 91Mt/year from 72Mt, but Transnet has not been able to reach its capacity of 71Mt for several years. Read More.....
Mining Weekly
Centre for Carbon Capture and Storage aiming to start test injection in 2016
The South African Centre for Carbon Capture and Storage’s (SACCCS’s) current main focus is the preparation for test injection, due to start in 2016, centre head Tony Surridge reported at the second Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Week, late last month. “The project started in 2004 with a CCS potential study, which has been completed, and has shown that there is a lot of potential for CCS in South Africa,” he says.
In 2010, the carbon atlas was completed, pointing out specific areas suitable for carbon capture. Currently, a scoping study for test injection is being undertaken; this is expected to be complete by the end of this year and will be followed by the compilation of a business plan.
“The project started in 2004 with a CCS potential study, which has been completed, and has shown that there is a lot of potential for CCS in South Africa,” he says. Read More.....
Mining.Com
China to impose local coal consumption caps
China is planning to cap coal consumption in a number of pilot regions as part of its plans to increase the use of clean energy and cut air pollution, the 21st Century Business Herald newspaper reported on Friday.
The report, citing officials involved in drawing up the policy, said caps would be imposed on the heavily-industrialised northern region of Hebei province, including Beijing and Tianjin, as well as the manufacturing powerhouses of the Pearl and Yangtze River deltas. Read More.....
Bloomberg
Unresolved Claims at S. African Power Plants Cuts Aveng Profit
Aveng Ltd. (AEG), South Africa’s largest construction company by market value, said unresolved claims at two of the country’s power plants are resulting in “bleeding” of the company’s cash flow and profitability.
Outstanding claims and continuing discussions over the steel fabrication contracts for Medupi and Kusile power plants means the Johannesburg-based company is incurring costs without generating income, Financial Director Kobus Verster said in an interview today. Aveng is “hoping to finish discussions this financial year.” Read More.....
