Minister launches innovative programme at Kelvin Power Station

The Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Blade Nzimande, recently visited Kelvin Power Station for the Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) Pilot Project launch.

In his opening address, he thanked all the institutions involved in the preparations for the event, including the CoE, which ensured all the relevant approvals were in place to proceed with the day’s demonstration of the potential power and purchase of new energy “Technologies in the search for a carbon-neutral future,” he said.

According to the minister, the event marked a milestone in SA’s just energy transition journey.

“The technology demonstrated is considered by many as a potential game changer in the reduction of CO² emissions while also having the potential to deliver added value to our economy in the form of new economic value chains,” he added.

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The Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) chose CCU as a technology that could significantly reduce emissions in the hard-to-abate sectors while also ensuring energy security for our country.

“This technological innovation, at least in principle, but hopefully also in practice, enables the country to ensure a strategic balance between its enduring reliance on coal to generate energy and our solid commitment to climate change mitigation.”

As a signatory of the Paris Agreement, SA is obliged to honour its commitments to climate change mitigation.

“In support of SA’s Climate Change Mitigation Policy, my department has partnered with an SA small medium enterprise (SME), EPCM Global Engineering, to demonstrate the CoalCO²-X technology in the hard-to-abate industries such as cement, steel, chemicals, and power production.”

The minister said the objective was to help industries reduce the carbon intensity in their production processes and products for long-term sustainability.

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“Following the first successful demonstration at PPC Cement in Dwaalboom in January 2023, more stakeholders from the private sector and government departments have come on board to express their interest in the CCU technology,” said Nzimande.

He thanked PPC Cement for being the first business to allow the department to show the world that SA can capture flue gas (gas emanating from combustion plants and convert it into a useful product like fertiliser salt, which is critical to boosting agriculture production.

The mister said that through the project, the department demonstrated that it can turn challenges into opportunities.

“Such opportunities include the creation of new economic value chains for fertiliser, green hydrogen, and ammonia production, which can potentially create new jobs while preserving existing ones in the coal sector,” he said.

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“We envisage a situation where, adjacent to the coal-fired power stations, fertiliser and sulphuric acid production facilities are established, creating new jobs and improving the quality of life for all South Africans.

“Such plants will viscerally demonstrate our commitment to promoting the circular economy as envisaged in the DSI’s Decadal Plan (10-year strategic plans for science disciplines),” said Nzimande.

He said the project has the potential to stimulate the demand for locally produced hydrogen, which would facilitate the building of an ecosystem for local production, storage, and distribution for domestic consumption and export processing.

“This is a great opportunity for us to collaborate with the Council for Geoscience (CGS) to decarbonise the power stations in Mpumalanga because all these projects are complementary across the policy spectrum within government,” he said.

The minister said he is delighted that this particular plant is the product of collaboration with one of SA’s emerging SMEs, EPCM Global Engineering, to develop and deploy the technology.

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“Our vision for the future is for a clustering of local SMEs being built around the critical power stations, steel, cement, and chemicals operations providing new carbon capture and utilisation solutions, thus creating an enterprise development and job and value creation pipeline.”

Nzimande appealed to critical stakeholders in the flue gas emitting industries to collaborate with the government as it plans the next phase of deploying and scaling the CoalCO²-X technology in our country.

“Let us use this extraordinary opportunity and this innovative technology we are working on to make this year the moment of decisive change in the fight for energy security and climate change mitigation, and let us do it together for the benefit of our country, its people, and the world,” he said.

Kempton Express News Channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaFCgQQ4NViqzTKFGb31