JSE-listed coal-mining major Exxaro had struck alliances with four large inter- national coal-fired electricity producers as part of Eskom’s baseload programme for independent power producers (IPPs), Exxaro manager for growth energy Thomas Garner told Mining Weekly last week.

Garner said that Exxaro was also forming alliances with companies in the renew-able-energy field in wind, solar and coal-bed methane gas.

Exxaro, he said, was looking to generating 5 000 MW of power in the next eight years, of which 2 500 MW was likely to be coal-based baseload power.

He said that Eskom was expected to announce the successful IPPs at the end of May, although that date was dependent on the regulatory framework having been put in place.

Garner said that confidentiality agree- ments precluded Exxaro from naming its four international baseload partners at this stage.

However, outside the baseload programme, he was prepared to reveal that the company had established an alliance with South African company Promethium Carbon in wind energy and in cogeneration.

“In addition to the relationship with Promethium on cogen and wind, we are also in discussion with other companies on wind and solar. “We are looking for companies that can bring technology and credibility to the table,” Garner told Mining Weekly.

Exxaro might, with Promethium, develop a wind farm on its own property at Brandsebaai, in the Northern Cape, the size of which was still being determined.

“We really want to be big in wind, and may even move up to 1 000 MW, but let’s talk about 500 MW for a start,” Garner said.

The constraint in concentrated solar was that huge quantities of water were needed for the raising of steam.

“My idea in solar thermal is to generate about 500 MW, but that depends on the availability of water,” he said.

The company was also engaged in proving up economic methane gas flow in a project in neighbouring Botswana, the size of which would be a function of the amount of gas that could be retrieved from the coalbed methane gas resource.

“My feeling is that it will start small, in the 30 MW to 50 MW range, and then, perhaps, grow bigger, depending on the balance of market and the resource,” he said.

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