Address by the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr B E Nzimande: Launch of the CoalCO2-X Technology demonstration at Kelvin Power Station in Kempton Park, City of Ekurhuleni
Programme Director;
Ms Barbara Creecy, Minister of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment, Republic of South Africa;
Technical Adviser to the Minister of Electricity, Mr Silas Zimu;
Ms Matilda Gasela, Gauteng Provincial Department of Agriculture, and Rural Development;
Mr. Oupa Seopa, General Manager, Kelvin Power Station;
Mr. Tumi Kgomo, CEO, EPCM Global Engineering;
Dr Titus Mathe, CEO, South African National Development Institute;
Mr. Mosa Mabuza, CEO, Council for Geoscience;
Representatives from media;
Ladies and gentlemen:
I am delighted to be here at the Kelvin Power Station for the launch of this important project. I wish to start by thanking all the institutions involved in the preparations for this event, together with the Gauteng Department of Agriculture, and Rural Development (GDARD) and the City of Ekurhuleni for giving us the required approvals to proceed with this novel demonstration of the potential power and purchase of new energy technologies in the search for a carbon-neutral future.
I also want to welcome all representatives from flue gas emitters, policy makers, environmentalists, government, investors, and industries, that have shown interest in carbon capture and use (CCU) technology and have come to witness the launch of the technology demonstration today at Kelvin Power.
This event marks an important milestone in our just energy transition journey as a country. We are gathered here today to witness the demonstration of a technology considered by many as a potential game changer in the reduction of CO2 emissions while also having the potential to deliver added value to our economy in the form of new economic value chains.
Carbon Capture and Use was chosen by my Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) as a technology that could play a significant role in reducing emissions in the hard to abate sectors while also ensuring energy security for our country. This technological innovation, at least in principle, but hopefully also in praxes, enables our country to ensure a strategic balance between our enduring reliance on coal to generate energy and our solid commitment to climate change mitigation.
As a signatory of the Paris Agreement, our country is obliged to honour its commitments to climate change mitigation. In support of the country’s Climate Change Mitigation Policy, my Department has partnered with a South African Small Medium Enterprise (SME), EPCM Global Engineering, to demonstrate the CoalCO2-X technology in the hard-to-abate industries such as cement, steel, chemicals, and power production.
The objective was to assist these industries to reduce the carbon intensity in their production processes and products for their long-term sustainability. Following the first successful demonstration at PPC cement in Dwaalboom in January 2023, more stakeholders from the private sector and government departments have come onboard to express their interest in the CCU technology.
I would like to sincerely thank PPC cement for being the first industry to raise its hand and allow us to show the world that we can capture flue gas and convert it into a useful product like a fertiliser salt which is critical to boosting agriculture production.
Indeed, through this project, we were able to demonstrate that we can turn challenges into opportunities. Such opportunities include the creation of new economic value chains for fertiliser, green hydrogen, and ammonia production, which can potentially create new jobs whilst preserving existing ones in the coal sector.
We envisage a situation where, adjacent to the coal-fired power stations, fertiliser and sulphuric acid production facilities are established, creating new jobs, and improving the quality of life for all South Africans. Such plants will viscerally demonstrate our commitment to promoting the circular economy as envisaged in the Decadal Plan of the DSI.
As a potential off-taker for the locally produced green or low emissions hydrogen, the CoalCO2 to X technology was included as one of the catalytic projects for the Hydrogen Society Roadmap.
Thus, the project has the potential to stimulate the demand for locally produced hydrogen, which would facilitate the building of an ecosystem for local production, storage, and distribution for both domestic consumption and export processing.
It should be noted that some funders have expressed reservations on the production of green hydrogen only targeted for the export market without a supporting domestic industry as an off taker.
I also want to highlight some work on carbon capture and storage led by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) through the Council for Geoscience (CGS) in the development of a carbon capture and storage facility in Mpumalanga.
I would like to point out that this is a great opportunity for us to collaborate with CGS to decarbonise the power stations in Mpumalanga as all these projects are complementary across the policy spectrum within Government. As some of you may recall, the CoalCO2- to X technology was exhibited during the Inaugural Presidential Science, Technology, and Innovation Plenary at the CSIR Convention Centre in Tshwane on 12 December 2023.
We are glad that the President had the opportunity to visit the exhibition and also interacting with the Team whilst also expressing his interest to see this technology being tested and validated in South Africa.
The potential for CCU to reduce emissions is undeniable. From our first demonstration at PPC Cement in Dwaalboom, results showed that CCU technology could reduce CO2 emissions by as much as 90 percent. In addition, modelling done by the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts that CCU could provide 19 percent of total global GHG emission reductions by 2050.
I believe we can significantly reduce emissions if we deploy CCU at scale across the public and private sectors of our economy. Given our country’s current energy crisis, we need to ensure that Coal remains a part of our energy mix, without compromising our efforts to reduce the carbon intensity of our economy. So, we are looking at these demonstrators as simulators of scalable commercially-driven technological solutions to maintain the strategic energy-climate balance.
Secondly, I am also delighted that this particular plant is the product of collaboration with one of South Africa’s emerging SME’s, EPCM Global Engineering, to develop and deploy the technology.
Our vision of the future is for a clustering of local SME’s being built around the critical power stations, steel, cement, and chemicals operations providing new carbon capture and utilization solutions, thus creating an enterprise development and job and value creation pipeline.
If we can push the commercial application and scalability of these greenfields technologies, my Departments (Higher Education and Science and Innovation) will provide a supportive technology innovation and skills development support system.
Finally, I would like to emphasise the importance for cross-sectoral collaboration, not only within and across government and its agencies, but with the private and development sectors in exploiting the commercial and social potential of breakthrough technologies suitable for the historically specific challenges facing South Africa’s energy-climate nexus.
My appeal therefore is for all of the critical stakeholders in the flue gas emitting industries to collaborate with government as we plan the next phase of deploying and scaling the CoalCO2-X technology in our country.
Let us use this extraordinary opportunity and this innovative technology that we are working on to make this year the moment of decisive change in the fight for energy security and climate change mitigation and let us do it together, for the benefit of our country, its people, and the world.
Thank you.
