Going green

Mpumalanga is famously fertile, but it’s a different kind of green that is changing the energy landscape of South Africa’s biggest power producer.

Awind farm under construction in Mpumalanga in the heart of coal-mining country is an outstanding example of thinking outside the box. The project will use renewable energy to provide power to coal mines.

All over Mpumalanga, companies, agencies, government departments and researchers are finding ways to go green.

The renewable energy subsidiary of coal-mining company Seriti Resources, Seriti Green, is to build a 150MW wind farm that will allow the company to receive 75% of the energy it needs to run its coal mines from renewable sources. This first phase of a larger project is expected to start producing power in 2025.

Seriti Green acquired a majority share of renewable energy asset manager Windlab in December 2022 for R892-million. The wind farm will cost R4-billion, with R1.5-billion allocated to new grid infrastructure. The grid infrastructure will be partly owned by national utility Eskom.

A power-purchase contract has been signed between the two Seriti entities, environmental authorisation has been granted by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment and Standard Bank and RMB have signed the financing agreements.

Seriti Green has its eyes on developing 3 000MW of wind and solar in the next ten years. Seriti’s first wind farm is part of a larger plan for the area between Bethal and Morgenzon in the Gert Sibande District Municipality, namely a 900MW renewable energy cluster comprising both wind and solar power.

This will be known as the Ummbilla Emoyeni Renewable Energy Farm. Given the strategic importance of the coalfields and power stations of Mpumalanga, the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure has designated the project a Strategic Integrated Project.

Once the larger project is fully developed, there will be

111 turbines, each of which will require two days of scheduled maintenance every year. Venn stated that his company would invest between R20-billion and R30-billion into the greater Ermelo region over the next five years. It is in these statistics that it becomes clear that the transition to clean energy will indeed create new jobs.

One of South Africa’s most successful investment projects, the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP), suffered a setback in the period between 2015 and 2021. It has since been relaunched and investors are queuing up to take a stake in greener energy but South Africa has now come up against the constraints of the national grid. In the most recent round of bidding for projects, the Northern Cape received fewer projects than it otherwise would have if the national grid was keeping up with increased generation potential of new projects. This gives Mpumalanga a comparative advantage.

With most of South Africa’s power stations located in Mpumalanga, the issue of grid capacity does not arise.

Eskom has been one of the first entities to react to this opportunity to build newer, greener facilities. In July 2022, Eskom announced 18 winnings bids from independent power producers (IPPs) for renewable projects on Eskom land, 4 000ha of which the utility has made available for this first phase. Eskom owns 36 000ha in the province. A total of 1 800MW will become available to the grid and it will be cheaper to transmit because the solar or wind plants will be right next to the existing Eskom transmission lines.

Ten coal plants are due to be closed by 2040, with four Mpumalanga plants (Hendrina, Grootvlei, Camden and Komati) first in line. Eskom is undertaking studies to assess the potential impact on local communities of these closures. Options to get these plants producing energy again include gas, biomass and hydrogen but it is possible they might be used for something quite different. Eskom wants to be a net-zero company by 2050.

The relaxation by national government of the rules regarding setting up a power plant of 100MW or less is well suited to the requirements of big timber-processing companies such as Sappi and PG Bison and all the large mining concerns that are active in Mpumalanga.

The size and scope of Seriti Green’s project may come as a surprise to people who had written Mpumalanga off as a potential venue for wind power. There was no surprise for ENERTRAG South Africa, however, who have been testing the province’s wind resources since the company first arrived in the country in 2017.

The data collected from multiple meteorological measurement masts (met masts) confirm that the province has enough wind to make wind farms viable. The wind may not be as strong as that experienced in coastal provinces, but it is steady.

Peter Venn, Seriti Green’s CEO, told Business Day in 2023 that the very large turbines that his company will use will operate at a capacity of about 40%, significantly better than solar, which operates below 30%.

ENERTRAG South Africa makes the point that the current environment is creating an active offtakers market among Energy Intensive Users (EIUs) and no place is better equipped to service that market and to facilitate wheeling than the Mpumalanga province, eMalahleni in particular. Wheeling is getting power from a generator to an enduser located in another area through existing distribution or transmission networks.

Credit: ENERTRAG

Arising out of COP26, South Africa was the first beneficiary of the feeling that arose that developed countries who had become rich by burning fossil fuels have a responsibility to help developing countries wean themselves off oil and gas. The Just Energy Transition Partnership is an agreement whereby Germany, France, the US, the UK and the European Union (the International Partners Group) will mobilise finance to help South Africa decarbonise.

A Just Energy Transition Partnership Investment Plan (JET-IP) has subsequently been published and bodies such as the Presidential Climate Commission and National Treasury are engaged with the plan.

Another international partnership was announced in June 2023 when the prime ministers of the Netherlands and Denmark visited South Africa to launch a $1-billion green hydrogen fund, SA-H2. Seeded with an initial amount of $250-million from Invest International, Netherlands, the fund is also supported by the Development Bank of Southern Africa, the Industrial Development Corporation and Sanlam.

South Africa has already designated nine green hydrogen projects as Strategic Integrated Projects. HyShiFT is a project developing sustainable aviation fuels in Secunda, which is home to several Sasol plants. Sasol, South Africa’s biggest energy and chemicals company, is part of a consortium that includes Linde and ENERTRAG.

While there is plenty of activity at national and international level, something green is also stirring at provincial level. The Provincial Government of Mpumalanga has established the Mpumalanga Green Cluster Agency to bring together government, academia and industry to create the environment for businesses to develop in a green economy.

The Cluster is an initiative of the Mpumalanga Department of Economic Development and Tourism with the support of GreenCape and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).

Among the issues the Cluster is looking at are carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and clean aviation fuel. The published opportunity briefs (the first in a series that will be expanded) cover water, renewable energy and sustainable agriculture. Each of the reports looks at the funding environment within that subsector, together with a market overview, key developments and achievements, the most important participants already active in the sector, legislation and regulation and market opportunities.

The Cluster is a member of the International Cleantech Network, a global network of more than 15 000 international green businesses. The Mpumalanga Green Cluster Board Chairperson is Dr Thembakazi Mali, the Senior Vice President for Research and Technology at Sasol.

Impact Catalyst Mpumalanga was launched in November 2022. An initiative of two big resources companies, Anglo American and Exxaro, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and World Vision, Impact Catalyst aims to drive large-scale socioeconomic development initiatives through publicprivate partnerships.

With Mpumalanga being a province with the largest number of South Africa’s power stations, the focus is naturally on issues such as decarbonisation and switching to cleaner energy but doing so in a way that promotes a Just Energy Transition.

Impact Catalyst will align with the JET-IP and with Eskom’s JET plan. The provincial government’s MP 2945 Vision is similarly aligned with the broader national goals.

Impact Catalyst Mpumalanga will support the conversion of power generation infrastructure and sustainable mine closures while promoting environmental management for agricultural development and exploring re-industrialisation and manufacturing opportunities. Helping schools and communities get access to digital resources will also form part of the programme.

Impact Catalyst was previously rolled out in Limpopo and the Northern Cape. ■