Part of the first round of the coal base-load Independent Power Producers Programme, the 306MW plant will be the first of its kind in South Africa featuring modern circulating fluidised-bed (CFB) technology.
Located in Mpumalanga Province, the country’s coal hub, the Khanyisa power plant is ACWA Power’s first foray into the coal space in South Africa. Khanyisa will make use of the discard coal abundantly available as waste piles in the nearby Anglo American collieries thereby significantly reducing the environmental impact of the waste mountains on the surrounding region and will in addition avoid the need and eliminate the consequences of mining new coal seams.
The plant will be operated and maintained by a partnership between Palace Group, an emerging South African BEE enterprise and NOMAC, a company which is wholly owned by ACWA Power, bringing additional international IPP operating best practice into the South African economy.