A R50-million biomass fuel-pellet project has been launched at the Coega Industrial Development Zone near Port Elizabeth, South African Broadcasting Corporation news reported on Wednesday.
The plant is expected to create thousands of jobs when it starts production in July, and about 20 000 tons of biomass fuel pellets per month will be produced for foreign markets.
Eastern Capes Biomass CEO Willie Claassen said Coega is the ideal place for such a major development.
”If you look at the infrastructure, the road systems, the water reticulation and electricity, everything is there. And the closeness to the port,” he said.
”The total production of this plant will be exported to Denmark, and it is bulk transport, so it needs to be able to bring in a big vessel.”
The pellets provide a cleaner, environmentally friendly alternative to other fuels such as coal used in power stations.
Wood from alien trees across the province and as far as George in the Southern Cape will be used to make the pellets.
A wood ”scrap yard” is also in the pipeline that will pay people for bringing in dead wood.
Biofuel is derived from biomass, recently living organisms or their metabolic by-products, such as manure from cows.
It is a renewable energy source, unlike other natural resources such as petroleum, coal, and nuclear fuels. — Sapa