The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has been mandated to retrofit decommissioned coal-fired power stations with advanced clean coal technology.
This initiative aims to mitigate the challenges posed by soaring electricity costs and dwindling availability that have threatened the operational viability of ferrochrome smelters in the region.
Appearing before the Portfolio Committee on Minerals and Petroleum Resources on Tuesday, the CSIR outlined a bold vision for the coal-to-carbon materials industry.
The Council asserted that this venture not only offers alternative uses for coal but also promises sustainability for the local coal sector as part of the broader just energy transition.
“The technology is ready, it’s a matter of localising the technology, make it adaptable to the local conditions, the quality of the coal,” the CSIR said.
“There is a fast track way where we can take the coal, take it for tests and then go to suppliers and have them build the technology for us. But we don’t want that, we want something we can use locally and use it ourselves.”
Presenting for the CSIR were group executive for advanced production and security division, Motodi Maserumule; head of mining technical solutions, Hartmut Brodner; and executive manager for the mining cluster, Bongi Ntsoelengoe.
Ntsoelengoe said the entity was finalising the contracting and preparing to kick-off the feasibility study by mid-June 2025 to retrofit old Eskom coal-fired plants with a cleaner (HELE) Ultra Supercritical CFB technology and extend their operational life.
She said the advantage of retrofitting old power stations was utilising existing infrastructure including land, grid connections, water, transport/logistics, adding that this would provide faster deployment than new plant construction.
Mlungisi Cele, director-general in the Department of Science Technology and Innovation, and the deputy director-general Dr Mmboneni Muofhe confirmed that the CSIR had been mandated to make a presentation on its capacity to contribute to the clean coal technology following a directive from Electricity and Energy Minister, Kgosientso Ramokgopa.
“Minister Ramokgopa is in the process of taking a Cabinet Memo that talks to that (clean coal technology) and it links up with the point that how do we address the power unaffordability aspect that leads to the closure of chrome smelters,” he said.
“There is also a conversation there in that Cabinet Memo that talks to repurposing and having some of the power stations dedicated to supporting smelters particularly.”
Muofhe said in the inter-departmental structure, the department was working on a detailed implementation plan for the critical strategy with the CSIR giving inputs to the implementation plan.
“It talks precisely to the identification of Special Economic Zones and what interventions are needed. The electricity strategy as well, we zoom into what technology interventions are needed to drive and support the beneficiation at source and the power issues are there,” Muofhe said.
On improvements in the mining sector, the CSIR said digital technologies can help the country’s mining sector unlock more than R153 billion in value by 2026, adding 51% to current mining size and help to increase mining’s contribution to GDP by 2%.
It said South Africa possessed ore reserves to a value of more than $2.5 trillion, with 16 commodities ranked in the Top 10 internationally including having the world’s largest known reserves of platinum, with a market share of 88%, manganese (80%) and chromite (72%) – all classified as high-criticality minerals status.
“In addition to renewables and other forms of cleaner energy, clean coal technologies are a real option for ensuring future energy security in South Africa. The CSIR is leading a collaborative CFB clean coal technology localisation initiative that will enable a de-risked implementation of the technology in Southern Africa,” it said.
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