Page 11 - AfrElec Week 47 2021

AfrElec COAL AfrElec

India’s JSPL to build coal

mine in southern Africa

INDIA IN a move that has caught many in India and demand of 600 MW, but with the larger of the
Southern Africa by surprise, in particular as pair undergoing long-term repairs, most of Bot-
the world continues to move away from coal swana’s daily power needs are satisfied by South
use in the wake of COP26, Jindal Steel & Power African utility Eskom.
Ltd (JSPL) has announced it will be building a Earlier in 2021, three firms; JSPL’s local office,
new coal mine in Botswana’s remote southern Jindal Africa, Maatla Resources, a mid-level local
Mmamabula region, south of the nation’s capital company, and Australia based African Energy
city Gaborone. Resources all placed bids in a tender for a new
Taking advantage of Chinese-led moves at 300-MW coal power plant project to be linked to
COP26 to change the ‘phasing out’ of coal to a the Mmamabula field, with Jindal being touted
‘phasing down’, Botswana has so far refrained as the favourite.
from an expected promise not to issue any more As part of a Botswana national energy policy
mining licences to foreign companies, and as promoted in 2016, Jindal Africa had unveiled
such the project will go ahead as planned, with plans to operate three surface mines in the coal-
ground to be broken next year. field region of Mmamabula, in addition to the
When complete the mine is expected to pro- aforementioned coal-fired power plant.
duce up to 4.5mn tonnes per year (tpy) of coal. Bringing these goals to fruition, there is, how-
Speaking to media in Africa, JSPL’s country ever, increased angst against Indian intervention
head in Botswana, Neeraj Saxena, last week in national industries across southern Africa,
said: “Work will start next year and develop in particularly south of the border in South Africa,
phases over two to three years. Regional demand where for decades the lion’s share of Botswana’s
is increasing and the South African market has power supply has come from.
appetite for Botswana coal.” Indian businesses were targeted in summer
Surveys have shown Botswana has in the riots across South Africa, with the ruling African
region of 212bn tonnes of subsurface coal National Congress (ANC) said to have done little
reserves, although it is at present committed to to alleviate racial tensions in the months since.
power supply agreements from regional power At the local level in Botswana, Motswana
South Africa on its southern border, and to a residents, though, are looking to benefit from
lesser extent Zambia to the north. the 2,000 jobs the power plant and mines are
Domestically almost all power generation in expected to bring to the landlocked nation of
Botswana comes from fossil fuels – a number 2.3mn.
that peaked at 99.84% in the mid-2010s. How, and even if, this affects the outcome
Today around 2% comes from renewable regarding Jindal’s plans to combine the Mmama-
sources, although by 2040, Botswana’s govern- bula Mine and power plant expansion in Bot-
ment has pledged to increase this to 18%. swana remains to be seen, particularly in light
With just one mid-scale solar project cur- of all power purchase agreements (PPAs) south
rently operating in Botswana, and the majority of the border now requiring clearance by South
of installed PV sites used for water heating in Africa’s Minister of Energy.
rural areas, this poses an uphill challenge at best. This is a post currently held by ANC National
Botswana’s energy supply situation has not Chairperson Gwede Mantashe, who last week
improved noticeably in the past decade, with said South Africa, as recipient of much of Bot-
some in South Africa’s political circles seeing swana’s coal was “… committed to low-carbon
Botswana as little more than an energy-depend- emissions, even net-zero emissions” but that
ent neighbour. this must be “within the reality of the energy that
Just two coal power facilities, near Pala- guarantees national economic growth, develop-
pye, north of Gaborone, supply the daily peak ment and industrialisation.”™

Week 47 25•November•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P11