Despite facing countless litigation from environmentalists, LNG gas project which aims to transform Richards Bay into a multi-billion-rand major gas city in Africa, is on the cards and irreversible.
In an interview with Sunday World, head of the KwaZulu-Natal(KZN) department of economic development, tourism, environmental affairs Nhlakanipho Nkontwana said the project has been set in motion.
“This will be a game changer not only for KZN, but for the entire country,” he said.
The earmarked 3 000-megawatt project will supply natural gas via the Lilly pipeline infrastructure commonly known as the Secunda-Durban natural gas pipeline.
About 1-million jobs are expected to be created once the construction of the plant has been completed.
The project is part of Transnet’s natural gas strategy.
At its core, said Nkontwana, the project is earmarked to provide storage and import facilities for SA’s fast-growing gas sector.
He said three ports – Richards Bay, Saldanha and Nqurha – were identified to carry the country’s energy hopes.
Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone (RBIDZ) chief operations officer Muzikayise Shange believes the gas energy project will contribute towards
easing the pressure on the country’s energy grid.
“The site will produce more power that will be generated and will ease the pressure on the energy grid,” he said.
The project is a public-private partnership between government and the private sector. Richards Bay Gas Power 2 (Pty) Ltd, an independent power producer will spearhead the project.
The facility is compared to the Pembroke power station, a 2 200MW natural gas power station in Wales.
It is considered the largest gas-fired power plant in Europe, supplying over 4-million households including businesses.
“The project is to be developed in response to the department of energy’s request for projects to be developed by the independent power producers in order to provide alternative power generation technologies for the country,” according to a report by Savannah Environmental, responsible for environmental assessment.
Recently, Groundwork, a non-profit organisation, lost in its legal bid to block the environmental authorisation granted to Eskom.
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