Page 11 - AfrElec Week 31

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NEWS IN BRIEF
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nancing under any circumstances, while in other cases only projects in International Development Association (IDA) countries will be eligible, and below certain emissions thresholds, coal- red plant projects can be funded anywhere.
IDA countries su er from the lowest gross national income, have a troubled creditworthiness, or are from the lowest per capita income.
COAL
Gupta mining operations in South Africa to be sold off
e coal and uranium mining operations
of the controversial Indian-origin Gupta family in South Africa are to be sold o a er its owners le the country amid increasing allegations of their irregular dealings with state departments.
GoIndustry Dovebid, the business rescue practitioners of the Gupta-owned Optimum Coal Mine, Optimum Coal Terminal and Koornfontein Mines, said that eight o ers had been received for the assets of these companies, which were put up for auction last month.
e o er included disposing of the coal mine assets-allocation at the Richards Bay Coal Terminal.
e company will facilitate meetings between the major creditors and the prospective buyers, a er which creditors will vote on a proposed business rescue plan that could return at least some of their investments.
e three Gupta brothers have been accused of misusing their relationship with former president Jacob Zuma to secure
lucrative deals.
e entire family, originally from
Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, has since relocated to Dubai.
Zuma resigned as president in February last year a er huge outcries over his alleged involvement in corrupt and illegal activities that le a number of government departments bankrupt. He was replaced by President Cyril Ramaphosa, who was subsequently re-elected during the national election.
Botswana’s private coal
mine produces first
saleable coal
Botswana’s privately owned coal mine has produced its rst saleable coal that has been exported to South Africa and Namibia, the chief executive of the company that owns the mine said on Wednesday.
e Masama Coal Mine has extracted roughly 39 000 tonnes of coal since July and aims to ramp up production to 100 000 tonnes per month of saleable coal by next year, Minergy Chief Executive Morné du Plessiss said.
“From (this month) it is envisaged that Minergy will be mining 110 000 tonnes run of mine per month. e same quantities will be put through the washing plant and this should result in saleable coal of between 70 000 to 80 000 tonnes, increasing to 100 000 tonnes per month next year,” du Plessis said.
“Minergy is currently exploring various options for o take, ranging from longer-term agreements for the ner du product to spot deals for the bigger fractions,” he added.
e open cast mine and associated coal wash plant is located 60 km northwest
of Botswana’s capital Gaborone and was
developed at a cost of 400 million pula ($37mn).
e Masama mine, the rst privately- owned coal mine in Botswana, is estimated to hold 390 million tonnes of coal reserves.
Despite Botswana’s huge estimated coal resources of 212 billion tonnes, Minergy’s Masama mine is one of only two operating coal mines in the country. e other is state- owned Morupule Coal Mine.
HYDRO
Egypt, Ethiopia seek progress on GERD
Egyptian Minister of Irrigation Mohamed Abdel-Aty has held talks with Ethiopia’s Minister of Water, Irrigation and Electricity at the headquarters of the Ethiopian Ministry.
e Egyptian delegation handed the Ethiopian side its vision on the lling and operating of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
e move comes as a prelude to a “six- party meeting”, in the presence of the ministers of irrigation and foreign a airs of the two countries, along with Sudan.
Abdel-Ati said that the Egyptian delegation included leaders from the Ministry of Irrigation, and presented Egypt’s experience in water resource management, raising the e ciency of use and curbing water weeds.
He added that the Ethiopian side was invited to learn from these experiences and prepare for bilateral joint projects, which will contribute to supporting and consolidating cooperation between the two countries.
Before his visit to Ethiopia, Abdel-Ati went to Sudan where he met with Sudanese Minister of Water Resources, Irrigation and Electricity, Salah Ahmed, and discussed consultations for the dam’s negotiations.
e presidents of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia held a tripartite summit in February in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, stressing the need for their sharing one vision on the issue of the GERD, and promoting the principle of not harming the interests of any country involved, for the sake of mutual bene t.
Egypt reviewed its vision during
the February summit, and stressed the importance of working to ensure a balanced and cooperative vision for the Ethiopian dam to achieve the interests and objectives of the three countries involved, consider the overall dimensions of their relations and how to enhance cooperation between them.
Week 31 07•August•2019
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