South African generation is primarily coal based with a high emissions baseline. Higher electricity costs now make numerous lower emissions technologies viable.

Unconventional power generation opportunities in South Africa include combined heat and power projects, power generation using smelter gas, mining coal gas utilization and landfill gas projects.

Combined Heat and Power is a mature technology in Europe but new to South Africa. The overall efficiency is dramatically higher than the 30% of conventional coal fired with emissions 40% to 60% lower.

The Absa Campus Energy project is a gas powered own generation project in operation since May 2010. Utility electricity is supplemented by 11.2MW of clean gas powered own generation. Engine waste heat recovery currently provides building and domestic water heating to the new Towers West building. The use of waste heat will be expanded to include cooling using absorption chillers and heating to other Campus buildings.

The project is the first commercial scale application of CHP in South Africa.

Presented by Ken Gafner Managing Director Single Destination Engineering (SDE)

Ken Gafner, male, Electrical Engineer, graduated from the University of Cape Town in 1983. He is a Chartered Engineer (IET), Eur Ing (FEANI) and Pr Eng (ECSA). After 5 years as a Design Engineer in Cape Town, he relocated to UK and Germany gaining key project experience over 6 years before returning. From 1996 to 2008 he was a Director of a major South African Engineering Design Consultancy. Since its formation in 2001, he is the Managing Director of Single Destination Engineering; an Engineering Design Company specialized in Power and Energy Projects.