Underground coal gasification holds significant opportunity for SA
State-owned power utility Eskom would start work on a larger-scale underground coal gasification (UCG) plant at its Majuba power station, in Mpumalanga, as soon as environmental approvals were received, Eskom group executive for sustainability Dr Steve Lennon has said.
He stated that the power utility had successfully run a small-scale pilot for two years, cofiring the Majuba power station with gas and coal, adding that the next step of the project would make use of a larger gasifier to feed larger amounts of gas into Majuba.
During this second phase, the gas supplied to Majuba would still be cofired with coal, with the third phase planned to use only gas that would be put into a gas turbine.
“This has been a successful project to date and UCG presents a big opportunity for South Africa as it opens up the possibility for us to exploit coal reserves that were previously unexploitable,” Lennon told Engineering News.
He added that the Majuba coal seams had previously seemed virtually unmineable.
“With UCG, we can use the coal at Majuba, as well as many other deposits that may be too fragmented, too deep, or simply not economical to mine using traditional methods, which could increase South Africa’s coal reserves significantly,” he explained.
Lennon added that, at the right depth, Eskom also expected UCG to be an extremely efficient and clean coal technology.
“Naturally, UCG would have to compete with other forms of gas and coal but we do believe that it has the potential to be a very competitive technology for power generation,” he said.
While Eskom was constantly reviewing the technology through the pilot plant process, at this time, it was found to be commercially viable.
“All our plans are to take this technology forward,” Lennon stated.
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