Eskom Holdings, which accounts for about 95% of South Africa’s power generation, is experiencing shortages of coal at as many as six of its plants and has issued a request for proposals for the supply of an additional 100-million tons over five to six years. NEW MINES Morupule’s expansion plans include a new, open-cast mine near its existing underground operation that is due to be commissioned by the middle of next year. The new mine will have nameplate capacity of 10-million tons a year, though that level of output will depend on demand, Bagopi said. Shumba Energy also sees supply troubles at Eskom and the region as an opportunity. It’s developing the Morupule South Mine, also an opencast operation, that will produce 1.5-million tons a year at full capacity. Commissioning is scheduled for 2019.“A lot of producers in South Africa are sending everything they are producing abroad,” Bagopi said. There are “serious shortages at the moment, which can only get worse because new mines are not opening up and those that exist are depleting their resources and closing.”
“There is an increasing shortfall in the supply of washed coal in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Namibia, CFO Thapelo Mokhathi said in a separate interview. “Eskom needs 130-million tons of coal a year and they are struggling.”- Mining Weekly
