Small MW allocation not enough: gas firms

[Kevin Lancaster]

Small MW allocation not enough: gas firms

Independent power producers said the requested 3 126 MW of gas-fired power generation is not enough to make it a viable investment in South Africa.

 

[Intell1gence]

Have a look at Gasland.

[video=youtube;d75ZXcTi-KY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d75ZXcTi-KY[/video]

Also: http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/

Fracking will cause irreversible damage to the Karoo and our country

 

[ToxicBunny]

Ok.. the article isn't actually about fracking. . Plus gasland isn't entirely honest to start with...

 

[Fuzzbox]

Gas is far more expensive than coal fired power stations.
I smell a big tender here.
Why not do SOLAR PV panels which are much quicker to install
and get running than building a DINOSAUR that will come online in about 15 years.

We will also only see NUCLEAR in about 30 years from now which will be way too late.

In GERMANY in 1 month they managed to build 9000MW using PV panels.

There in no money for coruuption and tenders in being efficient

 

[ToxicBunny]

Gas is far more expensive than coal fired power stations.
I smell a big tender here.

Except of course we already have the OCGT's, so what they're talking about is converting them to run on Gas which is cheaper than Diesel.

 

[me_]

Gas is far more expensive than coal fired power stations.
I smell a big tender here.

If you read the article, this is about the allocation to IPPs (Independent Power Producers) - not Eskom. These will be privately built and managed so it's up to the private company to ensure they are profitable. What tender are you referring to?

Why not do SOLAR PV panels which are much quicker to install
and get running than building a DINOSAUR that will come online in about 15 years.

OCGTs typically take 1 to 3 years to build with the first units coming online in 12 - 18 months. Even Eskom managed this with Ankerlig and Gourikwa. This is one of the key benefits of them.
The function of OCGTs is quite different to Solar PV panels. They provide a lot of energy for peak periods including early evening and morning where PV panels struggle during winter. Solar collectors are better for this, but they are much more expensive than PV and are probably more expensive than OCGT (haven't investigated this).
The various types of solar are part of the overall mix that has been assigned to IPPs, but there is a recognition that we can derive benefits from OCGTs.

The main problem with gas is that we don't currently have a reliable supply hence Ankerlig and Gourikwa running on Diesel at a much higher cost and poorer efficiency. I seem to recall that Transnet is busy investing in a large gas terminal so they can import large enough quantities for these power stations and that should make this a viable option.