Not coal, but solar power to fuel project, says MMSEZ

Date: 12 July 2024 By: Andries van Zyl

The Musina Makhado Special Economic Zone (MMSEZ) CEO, Mr Lehlogonolo Masoga, confirmed on Monday that they had completely abandoned their plans for a coal-fired power station in favour of renewable power solutions.

Masoga was asked to respond to recent media reports that the MMSEZ is looking at nuclear power to fuel the mega development and were in negotiations with Stratek Global regarding the possible use of their South African-designed small modular reactor (SMR), the HTMR-100. Regarding this, Masoga stated that no deal or agreement had been signed with Stratek Global (see accompanying article). Masoga was asked whether, should any deals or agreements be signed with Stratek Global, the MMSEZ had applied for the necessary regulatory permissions from the relevant authorities, and the progress of the process. “The MMSEZ has not approved nor implemented any SMR project and therefore there is no need to apply for any licence at the moment,” Masoga said.

With the MMSEZ scrapping their plans to build a 3,300MW coal-fired power plant and not reaching any decision or deal regarding the use of nuclear power, what other electricity-supply alternatives is the MMSEZ looking at. “The MMSEZ is guided by the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) and the appetite of the investors to explore opportunities in various power-generation options which comply with our government plans and priorities. Currently, we are at the project preparation phase of implementing a 500MW solar power plant with prospects of ramping up to 1,000MW over a medium to long-term period,” said Masoga.

Since the announcement of the proposed MMSEZ, this mega project has been mired in controversy, with the main opposition coming from environmental groups stating that the project will destroy the Limpopo Valley. One of the biggest arguments against the project is that the region simply does not have enough water to cater for this massive water-thirsty project. That the MMSEZ’s application for a water-use licence at the southern site (Mopani/Bokmakierie area) had to be “rebooted” surprised nobody.

Masoga was asked about the progress of their water-use licence application. “The process is at the public-participation phase,” Masoga said, referring to the southern MMSEZ site. They advertised for public participation on 1 December 2023. “Mindful of December being a busy festive season, we postponed the public-participation process to the new year and interested and affected parties were notified. The second round of public participation was scheduled from 12 April 2024 to 21 June 2024. Upon receipt of requests for additional time, as a reasonable and considerate institution, we extended the closing date to 16 July 2024,” Masoga said. Regarding the northern site, at Artonvilla between Musina and Beitbridge, Masoga said that a water-use licence had been granted to them on 13 March this year. As for where the water will come from, the MMSEZ stated that the water would come from Zimbabwe, although few details on how this would work are known.

Regarding the current status of the MMSEZ,  Masoga said that both the northern and southern sites of the MMSEZ had received environmental authorisation, which formed the basis upon which they were forging ahead with project implementation. Evidence of this was seen in both the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in the past month, with the MMSEZ advertising their intention to apply for township development at the southern site and inviting interested and affected parties to submit their input and objections (for more on this, see accompanying article).

As for timeframes, Masoga was asked when people will actually see the MMSEZ taking shape. “The MMSEZ will become a construction site for the next 10 to 15 years as investors move in, which will be preceded by the installation of bulk services that have commenced on the North Site. We are currently conducting project-based EIA applications to enable investors to commence with the construction of their projects. We will comply with the law in every step of the way to ensure the successful implementation of this game-changing mega project,” Masoga said.

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Andries van Zyl

Andries joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in April 1993 as a darkroom assistant. Within a couple of months he moved over to the production side of the newspaper and eventually doubled as a reporter. In 1995 he left the newspaper group and travelled overseas for a couple of months. In 1996, Andries rejoined the Zoutpansberger as a reporter. In August 2002, he was appointed as News Editor of the Zoutpansberger, a position he holds until today.

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