MTN gasses up

MTN's new tri-generation power plant will give the company its own source of sustainable energy, says MTN Group CEO and president Phuthuma Nhleko.

The operator unveiled the 2MW, methane-driven plant at its 14th Avenue headquarters, in Fairlands, Johannesburg, yesterday, as a self-sustaining power supply initiative.

MTN SA MD Karel Pienaar said the economic climate has increased pressure on companies to conduct business in an efficient and sustainable way.

“We needed to ensure that the company's expansion and growth plans were not hampered by energy shortages, or a lack of the power supply we require at the MTN campus to drive the business forward.

“Our challenge was to look at what was available versus what we needed, and come up with a plan to connect the two.”

According to Pienaar, the tri-generation plant will generate electricity and, through a second re-absorption chiller cycle using the waste heat, provide water for the air-conditioning systems in its buildings.

The plant is powered by methane gas, which travels from the Mozambique coast via Secunda and Sasol to Egoli Gas. A grid at the MTN Campus in Johannesburg is connected to Egoli Gas to transport the gas down a pipeline to the tri-generation plant that is under construction below the phase two building.

Once the plant is fully operational and producing 2MW of power, MTN says it expects a return on its investment of R22 million within a five-year period.

Inside the plant, the operator explains, energy created by the gas-fired engines generates heat and electricity. The waste heat from the engines will be used in the absorption chiller to cool the water.

data centre on the first floor.

The water from the six huge cooling towers is used to cool down the heat from the engines. As it is not used in the absorption cycle, this “grey water” is then recycled through the phase one and phase two buildings on the MTN campus to flush the toilets.

According to the company, all the plant's processes have been designed to bring water and electricity cost savings. Once it is running at 100% capacity, the plant's load excess will power and cool the campus.

“This plant will also assist us in reducing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the electricity consumption here at our headquarters, resulting in a reduction of coal-based electricity generation and its associated environmental consequences,” Pienaar notes.

He adds that the consequent reduction in the company's carbon emissions has enabled it to register the initiative as a carbon credit project with the UN-based project. This will offset the costs associated with purchasing the gas and the plant.

Speaking at the event, deputy minister of communications Dina Pule highlighted the role of the ICT industry in furthering SA's sustainable development goals. “Nothing less than a shift from a high- to a low-carbon global economy is required, and in many cases, ICTs appear to offer the best way to accelerate this.

“We must make alternative energy our business,” she added.

Pule noted that the department hoped to see more investment by the ICT sector in research and development, to drive environmentally friendly technologies into all sectors of the economy.

Frost & Sullivan research analyst Ross Bruton says a lot of businesses are looking at new forms of energy to power operations, in the face of possible blackouts and escalating tariff increases.

“It's topical for most industries at the moment, especially as there are likely to be significant problems regarding the availability of electricity until end-2012, when the first two units of the Medupi power plant come online.”

Bruton adds that many companies are looking at methods of becoming independent from the grid, both from an expenditure and maintenance point of view. “There's a large movement across all industries at the moment with regards to renewable power, especially because SA is so dependent on coal power.”

He says becoming independent and relying on one's own supply of energy is a long-term trend, as major energy consumers begin to see it as an alternative source of revenue, by selling off excess power.

“Government has made large commitments to renewable energy, as seen in its emissions reduction pledge at Copenhagen. It has put its foot forward and is willing to convert to renewables, the extent of which will be seen when the revised Integrated Resource Plan is published later this year,” concludes Bruton.