Page 14 - AfrElec Week 20

AfrElec
NEWS IN BRIEF
AfrElec
NUCLEAR
NIASA sets out funding
options for South African
new build
The Nuclear Industry Association of South Africa (NIASA) has outlined six potential options for financing new nuclear power plants in the country. Last week, Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe told a parliamentary committee he would be willing to look at innovative funding options as his department begins the process to develop 2500 MWe of new nuclear capacity.
“It is a fact that nuclear power plants require large upfront investments, compared to other sources of energy,” NIASA said in an article published in Engineering News.
“It is therefore critical how these projects are financed as the cost of borrowing money can be prohibitively high. Given the very
high proportion of the cost of energy that the capital repayment element makes up of the overall cost of power from a nuclear plant, the effective interest rate is fundamental to project viability.”
The six options identified by NIASA are: either state funding for the entire project or with state-backed loan guarantees and using reserves and cash flows from state-owned companies; an intergovernmental loan; corporate financing; financing by the plant vendor; project financing using a special investment vehicle; and ‘build-own-operate’.
Mantashe told the country’s Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources and Energy on 7 May that his department would begin preparations for the procurement of new nuclear as mandated in the country’s 2019 Integrated Resource Plan, and would consider all options including small modular reactor projects led by private companies and consortia.
POWERSHIPS
Turkish powerships to sail
to new spots in Africa,
Middle East
Demand for floating power plants, known
as powerships, has increased during the coronavirus outbreak, while Turkish conglomerate Karadeniz Holding – which has the world’s only powership fleet – is sending two ships with capacities of 400MW
to an African country and a Middle Eastern country, with more negotiations on way.
Zeynep Harezi, chairman of the conglomerate’s Karpowership Trade Group, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that with measures taken during the outbreak, their production did not decrease, though there were some difficulties in the mobility of personnel and customs procedures.
She stressed that the pandemic revealed the importance of the floating power plants, which are produced by Karadeniz Holding, in preparing countries for disasters.
Harezi noted that the company signed a contract extension agreement with Gambia for the 36-megawatt floating power plant last week by negotiating via videoconferencing.
“Our contract negotiations are ongoing to send our 400MW floating energy ships to two countries in a very short time, one in Africa and the other in the Middle East. In this process, we are also negotiating with a Latin American country for a 120MW floating power plant,” Harezi said, adding that these are all projects to be completed in a short amount of time.
RENEWABLES
SASOL issues renewables tender
South Africa’s Sasol has recently issued a call for tenders for the construction of several
renewable energy production facilities in South Africa. Independent power producers (IPPs) have until June 5, 2020 to express their interest in this project.
In South Africa, Sasol wants to reduce
its carbon dioxide emissions. The country’s second largest company, which specialises in the conversion of coal and natural gas into liquid hydrocarbons, wants to supply its facilities with electricity from renewable energy sources. The company is embarking on a 600MW production plant by launching a call for tenders for independent power producers (IPPs).
“In October last year, Sasol published
its first climate change report in which
it committed to reducing its absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its operations in South Africa by at least 10 per cent by 2030, compared to 2017. The company has identified renewable energy as a key driver to reduce its GHG emissions and move towards more sustainable production,” said the company.
The company favours wind and photovoltaic technologies. Projects proposed by IPPs must have a capacity of at least 20 MW with the possibility of being installed near Sasol’s facilities in Sasolburg in the Free State Province and Secunda in Mpumalanga Province. The company also gives IPPs the opportunity to generate electricity through renewable energy plants installed in “all of South Africa”.
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Week 20 21•May•2020