KwaZulu-Natal Business 2018-19 edition

OVERVIEW Energy Biomass

OVERVIEW Energy Biomass is producing energy in northern KwaZulu-Natal. A 17MW biomass project south-east of Pongola in the northern part of KwaZulu-Natal represents the province’s only approved project in terms of the national Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) but provincial planners are keen to use the province’s ample supply of sun and wind to exploit the potential of this exciting sector. Municipal buildings in the eThekwini metro are being fitted with solar panels. The Ushaka Marine World Theme Park is one of several facilities to receive solar PV panels intended to reduce demand from the grid. The pilot programme should save the city 426.75MWh, or about R330 000 in its first year of operation. The growing popularity of solar water heaters has encouraged Durban manufacturer Solar Beam to spend R2.5-million on expanding its premises. A joint initiative between the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the Georgia Technology Institute of the USA will see the establishment of a Solar Energy Institute. As part of the provincial government's strategy to boost regional development, the iLembe District has been named as an Industrial Economic Hub (IEH) for the renewable energy sector. With the King Shaka International Airport (KSIA) and the Dube TradePort lying just south of the iLembe District in the eThekwini Municipality, a partnership has been created between the two municipalities and the provincial government to develop a renewable energy technology innovation hub. The other area attracting energy investors is the Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone (RBIDZ) which has been named as the site for 2 000MW liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in terms of national government's gas-to-power plan. RBIDZ is also the site of a new biomass plant. Forestry waste, sugar cane and agricultural waste will provide the feedstock for a R2-billion facility that will largely supply the tenants of the Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone (RBIDZ) with power. The investing company Byromate, which ONLINE RESOURCES National Department of Energy: www.energy.gov.za National Energy Regulator: www.nersa.org.za Southern African Bioenergy Association: www.saba.za.org South African National Energy Association: www.sanea.org.za SECTOR INSIGHT • The iLembe District is set to become a renewable energy hub. has wind and solar projects elsewhere in South Africa, expects to start delivering power in 2018. The provincial government wants to see the RBIDZ become a hub for renewable energy, and this bio-gas project is expected to be the first of many in solar power, wind and other types of renewable energy. The huge forestry, timber, paper and pulp industries of the province carry with them the potential to provide feedstock for the renewable energy sector. Sugar grower and producer Tongaat Hulett believes that the national sugar industry could generate between 700MW and 900MW. Biomass technology is at the centre of the conversion scheme of South African Breweries at its Prospecton plant south of Durban. Methane-gas emissions from a nearby effluent plant are piped to the plant where they are converted to electricity. The eThekwini Municipality is spending R140-million on a plant that will convert methane gas from its major landfill sites. Lanele Resources and Amatala Resources have plans to produce fuel from municipal waste. KWAZULU-NATAL BUSINESS 2018/19 70

Water New water infrastructure is being built SECTOR INSIGHT OVERVIEW • The fifth phase of the Northern Aqueduct Augmentation project has begun. The area north of the Durban central business district is one of the fastest-growing urban areas in South Africa, with a number of large office and accommodation projects going ahead simultaneously. This is obviously a welcome development for the economy, but the new buildings also create pressures on infrastructure. The multi-year, R250-million Northern Aqueduct Augmentation project was initiated in 2014 and the fifth phase of the project has recently begun. This will provide water for Durban North, Umhlanga, Newlands, KwaMashu, Phoenix and Cornubia. It is intended to be complete by the end of 2019. Apart from a number of pipelines that will serve these growing areas, a bridge across the Umgeni River will be constructed. Bosch Projects is responsible for design for eThekwini Water and Sanitation (EWS) and Gibb is doing the environmental impact assessment. JSE-listed civil engineering and construction group Esor has several pipelaying contracts within the overall project. One of the many challenges faced by the South African water sector is a shortage of engineers. A study jointly commissioned by the Water Research Commission and the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) found that the country's four-in-a-million ratio of engineers is a long way from the required 50-per-million. Umgeni Water, the province’s biggest water utility, has launched the Adopt-a-River Project, which aims to keep rivers clean, raise awareness and create jobs. The first phase of the Spring Grove Dam in the Mooi ONLINE RESOURCES Mhlathuze Water: www.mhlathuze.co.za National Department of Water and Sanitation: www.dwa.gov.za Umgeni Water: www.umgeni.co.za Water Balance Programme: www.wwf.org.za River area has been completed on schedule and has increased water supplies in the Umgeni River catchment area. Spring Grove takes to five the number of dams in the Mooi- Mgeni system (including Midmar, Albert Falls, Nagle and Inanda dams), which serve more than five-million people in Durban, Pietermaritzburg and surrounding towns. When Spring Grove is complete, the total system yield will rise to 394-million m3/year. A new dam is being built at Smithfield and the wall of the Hazelmere Dam is being raised to increase capacity. A new reservoir (Waterloo) near the King Shaka International Airport, and serving this northern area, has been constructed as part of the master plan that will see water delivered to this reservoir from the Northern Aqueduct Augmentation project. The Western Aqueduct project (valued at R864-million) and the associated Northern Aqueduct Augmentation project will inject water into the rapidly developing area north of Durban. The Tugela Bulk Water Scheme (valued at R1.4-billion) will supply water to KwaZulu-Natal's North Coast. 71 KWAZULU-NATAL BUSINESS 2018/19