Page 10 - AfrElec Week 24

AfrElec
NEWS IN BRIEF
AfrElec
POLICY
Private companies to start power in Ghana by 2023
e Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) said that private distribution companies would be able to sell power to domestic homes on a retail basis from 2023.
is means that current monopoly Power Distribution Services (PDS) would not be the only company supplying electricity to domestic consumers.
e move aims to create competition to help make the cost of power competitive.
ECG Managing Director Samuel Boakye- Appiah said that the deal was part of the privatisation of PDS.
“For now GRIDCo has the big transmission lines. All the power producers produce energy and passes it through GRIDCo. When retail competition kicks in, PDS’ operations will be a network operator because the distribution network has been leased to them”.
Boakye-Appiah stated that retail companies will be allowed to purchase the power and then distributed to speci c areas.
“You can setup a retail company and say you are a power distributor at Madina or Adenta,” he said, adding that the retailer can buy from any producer and the power will be channelled through GRIDCo and PDS to the consumer.
He said that such a development will also provide consumers an opportunity to choose which company will supply electricity to their homes.
THERMAL GENERATION
Wärtsilä’s ready-to-go modular generator
Finland’s Wärtsilä launched its new modular gas- red generator at the African Energy Forum in Lisbon, o ering a stand-alone technology that can be quickly installed, dismantled and relocated as required.
Branded the Modular Block, the concept allows Wärtsilä’s existing medium-speed 34SG gas engine technology to be installed quickly and easily in remote locations and without the need for a permanent building.
is reduces on-site installation time from several months to a few weeks, while the medium-speed design has higher e ciency levels and lower lifecycle costs than containerised high-speed engines or gas turbine solutions.
As well as gas- red generation, the Modular Block can be used to support more intermittent solar and wind generation technology. By integrating the block with storage systems, it can also provide grid stability and balancing options.
Wärtsilä said that the Modular Block was a “reliable and e cient” solution for sustainable power generation, with fast delivery and installation.
e Wärtsilä 34SG is currently the most popular medium-speed gas engine in the world, and o ers generating output of 6 MW to 10 MW depending on the cylinder con guration.
WÄRTSILÄ
COAL
MC Mining seals coal deal with ArcelorMittal
MC Mining Limited has signed an o -take agreement with ArcelorMittal South Africa under which the latter is to buy hard coking coal from Phase 1 of the Makhado coking coal project.
e deal satis es a key requirement
for the Makhado Project’s economics and allows funding discussions to move forward. Construction is anticipated to commence in Q3 2019.
South Africa has a very limited production of high-quality metallurgical (coking) coal, resulting in ArcelorMittal and other coke producers having to import hard coking coal for the manufacture of metallurgical coke, a key ingredient in the production of steel.
ArcelorMittal will purchase a minimum of 350,000 tonnes of Phase 1 coal HCC annually for 10 years and has the right to acquire a further 100,000 tonnes per year.
e coal is to be delivered to the Musina siding and sent by rail to ArcelorMittal’s Vanderbijlpark and Newcastle operations.
e sale price will be calculated on a monthly basis and are linked to a published, international US dollar coking coal index.
Phase 1 of the Makhado Project involves the development of the west pit at the Daru and Tanga farms. Construction is to take nine months and expected to commence in Q3 2019. is will be a one-month ramp-up.
“ e signing of the Phase 1 HCC o -take agreement with ArcelorMittal is a massively positive step for Makhado. MC Mining is now positioned to become South Africa’s pre- eminent producer of high-grade metallurgical coal and the Makhado coking coal will partially replace coking coal currently imported,” said MC Mining CEO David Brown.
MC MINING
GRID
US-based EnerNex wins
smart grid contract in Côte
d’Ivoire
US-based EnerNex has been awarded a US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA)- funded Smart Grid Study project to support Côte d’Ivoire Énergies (CI-ENERGIES) in improvements to the Côte d’Ivoire grid.
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Week 24 19•June•2019