Dedisa Peaking Power in Port Elizabeth starts commercial operation

Dedisa Peaking Power in Port Elizabeth starts commercial operation

-The plant adds 335 MW power to the national transmission system, in the Eastern Cape Province -Dedisa Peaking Power is South Africa’s first large independent power project originated by the Department of Energy, together with Avon Peaking Power (Durban) that is still under construction. -The plant is of major importance for the economic development of the Coega Industrial Development Zone, where it is located.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, 2 October 2015/ -- Dedisa Peaking Power, a venture of ENGIE (formerly GDF SUEZ, France), black majority owned Legend Power Solutions (RSA), Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (Japan), and The Peaker Trust (RSA) representing the community in the area, today announced that it has started commercial operation of the 335 MW Dedisa Peaking Power Project in Port Elizabeth (Eastern Cape). Together with the 670 MW Avon Peaking Power Project near Durban (KwaZulu-Natal), Dedisa is South Africa’s first large scale independent power project originated by the Department of Energy. The power generated by these two open cycle gas turbine power plants will be sold to Eskom Holdings, South Africa’s state-owned utility, under a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) over a 15-year term. The construction of Dedisa Peaking Power, by the consortium of Ansaldo Energia and Fata of Italy, started in September 2013. It has been a major source of local employment, with a peak of ca. 1,400 workers on site reached in November 2014. Recruitment as well as local subcontracting were made largely in coordination with the COEGA Development Corporation, the industrial development zone authority. The achievements of the project during construction, in terms of job creation, skills transfer and BEE, exceeded the objectives agreed with the South African Government: 70% of total workforce employed to construct the facility was from the local black communities, with 57% black management, and in excess of 2.3% of payroll was spent on skills development initiatives. The operation of the plant will create permanent direct and indirect jobs for the local community over the 15 years of the PPA. The start of operations will also benefit The Peaker Trust, an independent trust that has been established to ensure that local broad-based black organizations and communities can benefit from the project. The trust owns 10% of Dedisa and the dividends it gets out of the plant operations will go to local socio-economic development initiatives for at least 15 years (i.e. the duration of the PPA). Arnaud de Limburg, CEO of Dedisa Peaking Power, commented: “Dedisa has started commercial operation on schedule and I want to sincerely thank everyone who has contributed to this achievement for their efforts and support. We owe our success to a solid partnership, strong support from both local and national Authorities, and highly motivated teams. I’m also proud that we have attained our goal with the utmost attention to our economic development objectives. Looking ahead, I am confident that in the frame of South Africa’s Gas Master Plan we will be able to convert the Dedisa facility to baseload and combined cycle as envisaged by the Department of Energy.”