Makana is the first municipality in the country to embark on a biomass energy production project with Netherlands-based environmental financiers, the Nollen Group. The process was set in motion at a ceremony last Friday morning, where Councillor Nombulelo Masoma, Municipal Manager Ntombi Baart and environmental entrepreneur Charlie Cox, who is part of the Nollen Group, signed a memorandum of understanding.
Makana is the first municipality in the country to embark on a biomass energy production project with Netherlands-based environmental financiers, the Nollen Group. The process was set in motion at a ceremony last Friday morning, where Councillor Nombulelo Masoma, Municipal Manager Ntombi Baart and environmental entrepreneur Charlie Cox, who is part of the Nollen Group, signed a memorandum of understanding.
The project aims to clear alien vegetation from farms in the Makana area and use this "biomass" to generate electric power, which Cox originally proposed selling to the municipality, and to Rhodes University, but now plans to sell to Eskom.
The benefit to farmers, Cox says, is having their land cleared of environmentally destructive invasive aliens.
The municipality will benefit, he says, from an improved water supply (aliens such as wattles and gum consume significant amounts of water) and a backup source of power during Eskom's load-shedding periods.
Cox said 7 500 hectares of invasive plants would be removed in the next 20 years, and used to generate renewable energy.
Director of Local Economic Development, Riana Meiring, said, "It is anticipated that 3MW will be generated by using alien vegetation and that 60-80 jobs will be created. Nollen Group wants to establish a trust which will benefit the community at the end of the day."
Councillor Nombulelo Masoma, the former chairperson of the Local Economic Development portfolio committee, who has been part of the project from its beginning stages, said, "The community will benefit from this project. We hear on the news that the capacity of our country is growing. We will need this now. We are the first municipality to make this dream happen."
Cox said that they would be approaching other municipalities with similar biomass energy production projects.
According to Baart, thus far, the municipality has committed itself to:
* Facilitating the process by which the project will enter into a power-purchase agreement;
* Mobilising those in Makana who will benefit from the project and making them aware of it;
* Facilitating the completion of an environmental impact assessment;
* Ensuring that once the biomass plant has been constructed, it has a reliable supply of water;
* Facilitate access for the Nollen group to the local energy grid, via the Highlands power substation, which is owned by the municipality.
WHAT DOPES IT ALL MEAN?
A typical household incandescent light bulb has a power rating of 25-100 watts. One megawatt (MW) equals one million watts (W).
According to Wikipedia, events or machines that produce or sustain the conversion of energy on this scale include lightning strikes, large electric motors, large warships, such as aircraft carriers, cruisers, and submarines. A large residential or commercial building may consume several megawatts in electric power and heat.
On railways, modern high-powered electric locomotives typically have a peak power output of 5 or 6 megawatts.
A typical coal power station produces 600-700 megawatts. US nuclear power plants have capacities between about 500 and 1300 MW, according to Wikipedia.
Source: Wikipedia
HOW USEFUL WILL THE 3MW BE TO GRAHAMSTOWN?
Putting the proposed plant's output in context, Grahamstown-based biotechnologist Garth Cambray, who is behind various alternative energy drives, including a proposed wind farm on the Highlands road, said
Grahamstown uses 15-20MW of electricity, on average. Rhodes University uses just under 3MW. He said 3MW was enough to keep Rhodes, High Street and the Pepper Grove mall running.
Cambray believes the plant will serve Grahamstown well in times of load-shedding.
"Electricity is like water… it flows to where it is needed," Cambray said.
Explaining the puzzle of how one would be sure the Grahamstown biomass plant's electricity would benefit Grahamstown during load-shedding, and not some other town, he said: "When you turn on a light, you can use electricity that comes from the Witbank Power station or from the bio-mass plant. The closest electricity to you, is what you get."
