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MBABANE – To make the mine operational, a substation must be built, which will cost more than E44 million.

This was revealed in the Environment and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) report prepared by MTK Solutions for New Frontier Coal Investments (Pty) Ltd.They said the cost (E44million) to connect to the Eswatini Electricity Company (EEC) grid was extremely high, as EEC requires the construction of a new substation to cater for the energy needs of the mines.

They also said the uncertainty as to what the new power purchase agreement will look like between Eswatini and South Africa presented a risk to the proposed operation due to the unreliability of the power supply.

Addition

The mine mentioned in the report that a diesel-powered generator could also be a reliable addition to cut costs. However, they noted that the price of diesel was also a risk due to the global volatility of the cost of crude oil.“The storage of diesel on site will be efficiently managed to ensure

environmental, health, and safety impacts are mitigated,” mentions the report.They stated that the best solution for power supply to the project would be solar power supply combined with diesel generation, batteries, or, in time, an EEC connection once the region’s EEC grid infrastructure improves.

Solution

“Development of the optimal solution will take time, and the mining operations will start off with a diesel-powered generator solution,” they said.Worth noting, two contracts worth over E450 million were awarded to companies abroad last year, as no local bids were received.