South Africa’s coal-heavy power utility, Eskom, has issued a request for infor- mation (RFI) for the supply and delivery of conventional or unconventional gas to its Ankerlig power station, near Atlantis, in the Western Cape.

The open-cycle gas turbine (OCGT) facility currently operates using imported diesel.

In 2012/13, the cost of operating the OCGT plants at Ankerlig and Gourikwa, in Mossel Bay, rose by more than 200% to around R3.6-billion as the utility employed the plants for longer periods to meet peak demand and create space for higher levels of planned maintenance.

Over the five-year period from April 1, 2013, to March 31, 2018, Eskom initially expected to spend over R12-billion to run the plants. But the regulator only approved R10-billion in a bid to deter Eskom from making use of the expensive facilities.

Work is, therefore, under way on the possible conversion of both Ankerlig and Gourikwa to gas.

Eskom is already working with national oil company PetroSA on the possible importation of liquefied natural gas (LNG) through a floating terminal off the shore of Mossel Bay.

PetroSA aims to make an investment decision on the $375- million to $510-million LNG import facility during the fourth quarter of 2014, and has indicated that the gas will be shared between its gas-to-liquids facility and the Gourikwa peaking power plant from 2018.

Through the new RFI, Eskom is testing whether there are companies that could feasibly supply Ankerlig with a minimum of around 40-million gigajoules yearly.

Earlier this year, gas exploration and development company Sunbird Energy, of Australia, indicated that it hoped to make an investment decision in early 2015 on the development of the Ibhubesi gas project, off South Africa’s West Coast, which could supply Ankerlig.

The Phase 1 development concept includes the drilling of production wells to be tied back to a central processing facility with a 400 km export pipeline capable of delivering gas to sales points at Saldanha and Atlantis.

However, by opening the RFI to unconventional sources, Eskom could be signalling its willingness to accept gas produced using the controversial hydraulic-fracturing technique.

The utility is seeking responses by October 28.