Electricity minister eyes Bay power plant
Ramokgopa wants Dedisa to be a gas-powered site and relieve pressure on country’s grid
With plans for a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage and regasification plant at the Coega special economic zone, electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa is pushing to convert the Dedisa Peaking Power plant currently fuelled by diesel into a gas-powered site.
When the R3.5bn peaking plant was built, it was designed in such a way as to make the conversion from diesel to gas easier.
Peaking plants are switched on during peak periods, unlike base load plants that run continuously.
Running the plant on diesel is a costly exercise, one that Ramokgopa says would hit the consumer the hardest.
The Herald previously reported on a R13.6bn LNG storage and regasification project mooted for the Port of Ngqura, which was expected to create 400 jobs during construction and 100 permanent jobs once completed.
Ramokgopa wants the Dedisa Peaking Power plant to help relieve pressure on the country’s electricity grid by contributing towards the generation of one gigawatt of electricity that would feed into the national grid.
The Dedisa Peaking Power plant, when operational, generates 335 megawatts (MW) of electricity and if combined with its sister plant, the Avon Power plant in KwaZulu-Natal, the two would have a generation capacity of more than 1,000MW, which equates to a single stage of load-shedding.
Dedisa already supplies Eskom when needed at short notice to assist in stabilising the grid.
During a site visit at the plant yesterday, Ramokgopa announced that he wanted the power station to be recommissioned and turned into a gaspowered station, which is 50% less expensive than diesel.
Ramokgopa was accompanied by Eastern Cape economic development MEC Mlungisi Mvoko and Bay mayor Gary van Niekerk.
He said it was important that the government provided
some level of relief to consumers and the national power grid.
“This exercise is part of our search for additional megawatts to ensure we get rid of load-shedding.
“Our conversations [with Dedisa] were about understanding the appetite of the operators to ensure we convert the plant from diesel to gas, which we will have further discussions on,” Ramokgopa said.
“The peaking power plants use diesel as a fuel source which is very expensive, and as you’ve seen the latest tariffs, the more we draw on diesel the greater the burden we are placing on the consumer — a matter that has implications on the tariff structure.”
It is understood that the Dedisa Peaking Plant was intended to be used during the peak stages but due to the country’s persistent electricity challenges, it was used more regularly, demonstrating its efficiency and capacity to supply the national grid with electricity.
Ramokgopa said engagements with Dedisa enabled them to achieve and realise a number of things, including that gas is 50% cheaper than diesel, it requires less water which is one of the key ingredients in the generation of electricity as well as the possibility of improving the load factor.
“This means the optimal and continual operation of this power station will assist us to resolve load-shedding not only in the peak period but throughout the day.”
Ramokgopa said the Dedisa technical team would come up with durable solutions in a few weeks which would form part of an announcement to the country of the government’s additional measures to ensure it achieves energy security.
Van Niekerk said it was important for the city to pull its weight in ensuring it worked with the national government to curb the electricity challenges.
“Our biggest headache as a city is the exorbitant electricity losses that stem from theft.
“This issue formed part of
our engagements with the ministry and Dedisa.
“The stealing of electricity cuts across all areas of the metro and it affects everyone, including the paying customers.”
Van Niekerk said the city would make an announcement later this week in terms of its revenue enhancement strategy.
“I’m also pleased to say that there will be another announcement by the end of April from the Dedisa technical team regarding the timeline as to when the operations will commence so that we and the rest of the country can benefit from it,” he said.
Speaking on the sidelines of the engagements, Mvoko said the provincial government looked forward to the gains of recommissioning the plant.
He said one of the biggest challenges the province faced was that it was home to 80% of the component suppliers to the automotive sector in SA — the majority of which were based in the Bay.
“Our problem is that we