The proposed development site, which is 17km north-west of Lephalale, is located adjacent to Grootegeluk coal mine owned by Exarro.
The fuel for the coal-fired power station will be supplied from Exxaro’s Thabametsi mine, a prospective opencast greenfields mine, through a surface conveyor belt.
Depending on the availability of water and on grid integration constraints, the total capacity of the plant could be expanded to about 1,200MW.
The mine will supply up to 3.8 million tonnes per annum of run-of-mine coal to the power plant after ramp-up.
A low reserve margin and growing electricity demand have made it imperative for the installation of additional electricity generation capacity in South Africa in the near future.
GDF SUEZ Energy South Asia, Middle East & Africa CEO and president Shankar Krishnamoorthy said the company’s partnership with South Africa is gaining momentum, with conclusion of several agreements during the second quarter of 2013.
Exxaro Resources chief executive officer Sipho Nkosi said, "This is an exciting milestone for Exxaro in the development of this initiative to contribute towards power availability and supply in South Africa. As a major player in the coal mining sector, we are integrated in the power (and energy) production value chain."
