Jobs, a better water supply, a way to help farmers deal with invasive aliens, and a solution to Eskom… no, the fairy godmother hasn't come to town. These are the promises made by proponents of Makana's own bio-mass energy power plant, plans for the implementation of which are steadily taking shape.
Jobs, a better water supply, a way to help farmers deal with invasive aliens, and a solution to Eskom… no, the fairy godmother hasn't come to town. These are the promises made by proponents of Makana's own bio-mass energy power plant, plans for the implementation of which are steadily taking shape.
The proposal of the Nollen Group, an environmental finance group based in the Netherlands, first came before the Makana Economic Development portfolio committee in May. Group representative, Charlie Cox proposed that a 2 to 3MW biomass power plant be constructed at the old power station in the industrial area, to sell renewable electricity to the city's biggest entities – Makana Municipality and Rhodes University.
The council approved the project in principle and it forms part of the Makana Municipality's Green City initiative. Cox said they were currently in the final stages of project development. "We hope to begin construction during the middle of this year, assuming things go smoothly over the next few months, and construction is expected be complete mid-2012," Cox said.
Local Economic Development Director, Riana Meiring, said an environmental impact assessment had been submitted, along with the drafting of a Memorandum of Understanding, which was currently being examined by the municipality’s legal team.
The company's proposal read that, in order to finance the construction of the power plant and to secure a fuel supply agreement, Nollen Group needed to be sure it had an assured buyer for its electricity. Cox said they hoped to finalise the process in the next few months.
Meiring said contracts had been signed with people who could provide the energy power plant with vegetation. "The municipality established an integrated project team that comprises technical experts from the municipality and the Nelson Mandela Metropole to advise and implement measures to ensure that the renewable energy projects are realised," Meiring said.
The invasive plants and waste biomass will primarily come from farms and game reserves in the Makana area, where many farms are overrun with invasive alien plants, such as wattles and gum. Other benefits are that the generated electricity will serve as a buffer in case of an Eskom load-shed, and a significant number of jobs will be created.
