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Cape Town – A first of its kind thermal harvesting plant with a capacity of 4.3 MW was launched in Rustenburg on Monday.
The Eternity 'clean energy' power plant was opened at the Anglo American Platinum [JSE:AMS] Waterval Smelting Complex.
Eternity Power director Jacque Malan told Fin24 that the plant signed a 15-year agreement with Amplats, which would provide waste heat in exchange for electricity.
“Previously all the heat was lost. Now the plant produces clean energy and reduces Anglo’s carbon footprint,” he said.
Malan explained that the power plant took waste heat from the smelter and, through a process of heat exchange and evaporation, drove a turbine.
“The turbine is directly connected to a generator that produces electricity. The motive fluid is a closed loop system,” he explained.
The power plant obtains its heat for generation from Amplats’ platinum smelting process. Malan said this is a first globally.
According to Malan the plant was selling energy to Amplats at a lower rate than Eskom’s "current effective tariff".
“We charge them a fixed rate - approximately 10% to 20% cheaper than Eskom,” he said.
Eternity was able to supply 4.3 MW to the grid and reduced the amount of power Amplats bought from Eskom.
In comparative terms the plant’s output has the capacity to power 5 000 residential houses.
The total cost of the project was R150m and was funded by Investec, which has sold its equity to H1 Holdings.
The Department of Trade and Industry provided a R30m grant, which formed part of the critical infrastructure programme (CIP).
Malan said approximately 100 temporary jobs were created alongside seven permanent jobs.
