Name of the Project
Ngodwana biomass project.

Location
The plant will be erected adjacent to the Sappi Ngodwana mill, in Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Project Owner/s
Ngodwana Energy, a subsidiary of Sappi Southern Africa, together with KC Africa and African Rainbow Energy and Power.

Project Description
The project forms part of government’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme signed in April this year. The project involves the construction of a 25 MW woodchip biomass plant. The plant will use biomass recovered from surrounding plantations and screened waste material from the mill production process. It will burn up to 35 t/hr of biomass in a boiler to generate steam and drive a turbine to generate electricity, which will be fed into the grid.

A high-efficiency air pollution control system will be used on the boiler flue gas to ensure that emissions are below the new South African requirements.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
R1.8-billion.

Planned Start/End Date
The project is expected to start construction in August this year and will take up to 27 months to complete.

Latest Developments
ELB Engineering Services has successfully completed the first concrete pour at the Ngodwana Energy biomass power project.

The first concrete pour was done for a section of the boiler building raft foundation and was about 300 m3. The boiler forms part of the power island, which consists of the boiler, turbine, cooling towers, a precipitator and a stack.

The power island is built on 507 piles that are 15 m deep, and the boiler raft foundation is cast on top of the piles and comprises 1 000 m3 of concrete and 115 t of rebar.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
ELB KCC Consortium, comprising Engineering Services, Korea-based KC Cottrell and the ELB Educational Trust (EPC contract); KCC (power island, comprising a boiler, turbine generator, cooling towers and an air pollution control system); and ELB (civil work, fuel handling, electrical switchyard and site erection).

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Sappi Ngodwana Mill, tel +27 13 734 6111 or email NgodwanaMill@sappi.com; or email MediaQuerySA@sappi.com.