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SA insists Eskom install flue gas scrubbers at Medupi
SOUTH AFRICA
THE South African government has ruled that Eskom must install flue gas desulphurisation equipment at the Medupi power plant.
The South African Department of Envi- ronmental Affairs said that there was no legal process that would allow Eskom’s plan to avoid installing the pollution-reducing equipment at the six 800-MW units at Medupi at a cost of ZAR42bn ($2.4bn).
Eskom originally agreed to install desulphur- isation infrastructure as a condition of a $3.75bn World Bank loan signed in 2010 to help fund the plant.
The company would also need to receive approval from the lender if it were to breach the terms of the loan.
The department’s statement comes after Eskom said last week that it has been holding initial discussions with it about the matter.
However, the department confirmed that it had received no formal request from Eskom to approve the changes, and that it had not had any talks with the World Bank.
Eskom argues that flue gas desulphurisation would be too expensive, raise water consump- tion, require the use of large quantities of lime- stone and produce additional CO2.
Without flue gas desulphurisation, Medupi is unlikely to meet the government’s pollution and
emissions standards. Environmental pressure groups have regularly stressed that Eskom and chemicals producer Sasol often break pollution regulations.
Meanwhile, the government has ordered Eskom to close two old coal-fired units at the Kendal power plant in order to repair broken equipment that is causing excessive emissions.
Eskom has also had to close the Camden power plant for three months after an ash dam reached an excessive height.
Meanwhile, Eskom has begun to hold talks with the World Bank, Bloomberg reported, although Eskom has refused to confirm this.
Eskom CEO Andre De Ruyter said that Eskom aimed to carry out a number of measures to reduce its ZAR454bn ($26bn) debt burden to around ZAR200bn ($11bn), which includes cost-cutting, raising tariffs through discussions with the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) and the stabilisation of its bal- ance sheet.
Eskom also aims to transfer its debt onto the three separate transmission, distribution and generation companies that will emerge through the break-up and reform of the firm.
De Ruyter said that most of the company’s debt had been built up by the construction of the Medupi and Kusile power stations.™
POLICY
Tanzania seeks to promote local content
TANZANIA
TANZANIA’S Energy and Water Utilities Reg- ulatory Authority (EWURA) has indicated that it wants to see more local companies involved in the development of the country’s oil and gas resources.
Tobias Rwelamila, EWURA’s manager for natural gas distribution, said last week that his agency had not reached its target for promoting Tanzanian participation in development pro- jects. As of December 2019, he noted, EWURA had only added 428 domestic firms to its register of service providers authorised to provide oil and gas-related services, far short of its goal of more than 1,000.
According to the Tanzanian Daily News, the number has risen since the beginning of the year and had reached 457 as of March 2020. This rep- resents a 6.8% rise on the end-2019 figure but is still well below the target.
Rwelamila said, though, that his agency
remained optimistic and was ready to work with local companies of all sizes. “EWURA has imposed no deadline restrictions for local com- panies interested to register as service providers,” he said. “There [are] no capital analysis demands, quality-of-service specifications or [require- ments related to] the lifespan of the company.”
The agency has also worked to streamline the process of application for inclusion in the register of authorised contractors, he said. Inter- ested companies can fill out and submit local content service provider (LSSP) forms online, he explained.
Expanding local participation in oil and gas projects will benefit the country by channelling foreign investment funds directly into the Tanza- nian economy, Rwelamila commented. I
I will also help foreign investors, since Tan- zanian service companies will charge less than their foreign counterparts, he said.
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 21 28•May•2020