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9 Sep 2008 08:08
9 September 2008
IPSA Group PLC to Double New Clean Coal-fired Capacity in Eastern Cape
IPSA Group PLC ("IPSA") is pleased to announce that it is increasing the scale of its clean coal-fired power plant development programme in South Africa's Eastern Cape. IPSA now intends to increase its overall portfolio of clean coal-fired capacity under development from 500 MW to nearly 1,000 MW by the addition of new steam turbine units to be built in the area between East London and Port Elizabeth.
IPSA has been developing a 500 MW mine mouth power plant at the mine controlled by Elitheni Coal Pty. Limited ("Elitheni") at Indwe in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. In recent weeks, Elitheni's controlling shareholder, AIM-quoted Strategic Natural Resources PLC ("SNR"), has announced an increase in Elitheni's proven and inferred coal reserves. SNR has also commenced commercial operations on site at Indwe having last week blasted its first extraction of coal for testing and local sales.
IPSA and SNR have now agreed outline terms for new contractual arrangements to permit IPSA both to increase the overall scale of its coal-fired development and to accelerate the in-service date of some of its initial capacity based on the use of Elitheni coal, not only at the mine mouth itself but also in other parts of the Eastern Cape using rail transport to take Elitheni coal from Indwe to other sites.
In order to accelerate the construction of its initial coal-fired capacity, IPSA is focusing on the installation of circulating fluidized bed ("CFB") boilers of around 75 MW each. These imported CFB boilers, which are of proven technology and manufactured to standards accepted in South Africa, have a shorter delivery and installation time, around two years to commissioning, compared with the four to five year lead time of the large scale boilers favoured by Eskom and international developers. The faster boiler delivery times and IPSA's ability to source matching smaller steam turbines now allows IPSA to cut the development time at Indwe and other locations in the Eastern Cape so that its first units can be targeted for commissioning in 2010 as "fast track" plants.
The Board of IPSA believes that there is a significant competitive advantage for IPSA in meeting South Africa's chronic shortage of generation capacity by bringing significant additional capacity into service in South Africa in the shortest possible time frame to help alleviate the current power crisis in the region.
The new fast track clean coal programme is set at between 250 MW and 300 MW between two separate sites with a further 400 MW planned for Indwe in a second phase and at least 300 MW more planned for installation near East London to meet the critical demand for new power generation capacity in the Eastern Cape where today no significant on-grid capacity exists.
IPSA already owns and operates the gas-fired CHP plant in Newcastle, Kwa Zulu Natal, the first independent power plant in South Africa. It is also developing 1,600 MW of combined cycle gas turbine generation capacity to be based at the Coega Industrial Development Zone near Port Elizabeth.
For further information contact:
Peter Earl, CEO, IPSA Group PLC: +44 (0)20 7793 5615
Elizabeth Shaw, COO, IPSA Group PLC: +44 (0)20 7793 5615
Nick Naylor / Jamie Boyd, Noble & Company Ltd: +44 (0)20 7763 2200
Sean Lunn, Hichens, Harrison (South Africa) Ltd: +27 21 950 2711
Allan Piper, Tavistock Communications: +44 (0)20 7920 3150
Dino Theodorou / Melissa Harris, PSG Capital (Pty.) Limited +27 11 797 8400
Jacques de Bie, College Hill (South African PR Advisers) +27 11 447 3030
Or visit IPSA's website:
www.ipsagroup.co.uk
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