South African mining group Exxaro and GDF SUEZ have concluded a project development agreement and a coal supply term sheet for a 600 MW coal-fired power plant in Limpopo province (South Africa).
Following a selection process, Exxaro selected GDF SUEZ in mid-2012 for the development of a 600 MW coal-fired power station in the Waterberg region, Limpopo province. The proposed development site, 17 km north-west of Lephalale, is located adjacent to Exxaro’s Grootegeluk coal mine. The fuel for this 600 MW baseload coal-fired power station will be supplied from Exxaro’s Thabametsi mine, a prospective opencast greenfields mine, via a surface conveyor belt. The mine will supply up to 3.8 Mt/year of run-of-mine coal to the power plant post ramp-up.
The period of the coal supply will be determined by the duration of the power purchase agreement, but is anticipated to be up to 25 years.
Construction should start in 2014 and the Waterberg plant is expected to be commissioned in 2018.