OVERVIEW Energy A
OVERVIEW Energy A utility-scale solar farm will feed the grid from 2025. The far-western reaches of Limpopo Province have long been associated with power, more specifically power from coal. As of 2025, Exxaro’s 68MW Lephalale Solar Project (LSP) will generate 176 gigawatt hours of clean energy every year for 25 years. Exxaro’s giant Grootgeluk mine supplies coal along a 7km conveyor belt to two Eskom power stations, Matimba and Medupi. The solar project, being developed by Exxaro renewable-energy subsidiary Cennergi, covers 236 hectares about 4km from Matimba and 25km west of the town of Lephalale. The R1.5-billion project, on which construction has already started, will likely employ between 300 and 400 at the peak of activity. Apart from helping to ensure energy security for the Grootgeluk operations, Exxaro has a stated aim of decarbonising its operations and has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Council for Geoscience to help further that goal. Northam Platinum is building a 10MW solar plant at its Zondereinde smelter. The company expects to recoup its investment within four years. At Northam’s Eland Mine a PV Solar Project serves the dual purpose of keeping cars cool in the car park while also producing energy from the solar panels. The solar farm will generate approximately 1 800MWh of electricity annually or 4% of annual electricity demand and help to reduce emissions. In 2024, Eskom announced a new policy regarding renewable energy. Having started to lease land it owns to independent power producers (IPPs) from 2022, Eskom will now also develop its own renewable projects on the land it owns around old power stations. The first five lease agreements with IPPs were for the development of an estimated 1 800MW of new-generation capacity. All of these were in Mpumalanga Province but the new strategy is intended to be expanded to other provinces where Eskom has land. Two of Eskom’s biggest power stations are in Limpopo. The key to this land is the proximity to the grid. Where a power station exists or where it is set to be decommissioned (as several power stations are set to be in the next few years), the existing connections to the power grid are a vital factor for the viability of any new projects. To expand South Africa’s growing renewable energy sector will require the expansion of the grid that carries the power. A 2024 Bloomberg article put the price of that expansion at R390-billion so the full programme is clearly not going to happen quickly. Using existing connection points makes the most sense. SECTOR INSIGHT Eskom is entering the renewables field. Exxaro’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr Nombasa Tsengwa, and Limpopo’s then Premier, Mr Chupu Stanley Mathabatha, officiate at the solar farm project sod-turning ceremony in late 2023. The other element in Eskom’s renewable strategy is to develop battery storage systems. What Eskom is calling its “repowering and repurposing pipeline” will be run by the unit within the utility that is still to be formally created by parliament, LIMPOPO BUSINESS 2024/25 30 PHOTO: Exxaro
The upgrading of South Africa’s grid has become an urgent priority. the generation division. The process of splitting Eskom into separate units responsible for generation, distribution and transmission took a big step forward in July 2024 when the National Transmission Company of SA (NTCSA) officially began trading. Eskom estimates that 50 projects in the pipeline could generate 2 172MW and create 1 754 jobs. A line in the draft 2023/24 Integrated Development Plan of the Waterberg District Municipality confirms the new trend in the energy landscape of Limpopo. The document includes a reference to the Nalane Green Solar Energy Project, which has started implementing its R5-billion investment plan. A province that has huge reserves of coal is starting to pay serious attention to renewable energy. As of 2023, the provincial government has promised to develop a “province-specific and comprehensive energy plan to ensure that we build a new electricity generation capacity in our province” (SOPA). Provincial and municipal bodies will be encouraged to promote energy-production projects. This might include solar panels being retrofitted on official buildings. Samancor intends building a 60MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant to help power its Tubatse ferrochrome smelter complex in the Sekhukhune District Municipality. A battery energy storage system will also form part of the energy installation. Ivanhoe Mines wants to procure some of the power it needs for its Platreef mine from green sources. The mining company is building its own 5MW solar plant and has also signed an offtake agreement with Renergen to have access to the electricity generated by that company’s gas and solar power plant in the Free State province. Both Special Economic Zones in Limpopo are making a play ONLINE RESOURCES National Energy Regulator: www.nersa.org.za South African Independent Power Producers Association: www.saippa.org.za South African Photovoltaic Industry Association: www.sapvia.co.za for the green hydrogen market. The Musina-Makhado SEZ has also signed an agreement with a Chinese company for the first phase of a project that will supply 1 000MW of solar power to support the SEZ’s metallurgical complex. At the Fetakgomo-Tubatse SEZ, one of the region’s biggest minerals-processing companies, Samancor Chrome, intends building a solar photovoltaic (PV) plant that will deliver up to 60MWp-capacity (Mining Weekly). The current will be converted and sent to the Samancor grid in support of the Tubatse ferrochrome smelter. The company has appointed consultants to carry out a heritage impact assessment on the farm Goudmyn in the Fetakgomo Local Municipality. Implats is using natural gas to supply its refinery in Springs. In Phase one of the project 20 Doosan fuel cells are generating 8MW of power. The long-term goal is to generate 22-30MW. A public-private planning exercise, known as Impact Catalyst, is working on focus areas which include biofuels and intends to prepare the province to deal with the emergence of new sectors such as renewable energy. ■ PHOTO: Eskom 31 LIMPOPO BUSINESS 2024/25
