Durban's waste to energy project
11 October 2006
The French Development Agency (AFD) is to contribute a loan of between R60- and R70-million to the eThekwini (Durban) Municipality for a project to generate electricity through the fermentation of household waste.
The project is expected to generate up to 10 Megawatts of electricity - enough to illuminate about 9 000 homes - from landfill sites at the three Durban suburbs of Bisasar Road, Mariannhill and La Mercy.
Gas recovery wells and generators are currently under construction at the three sites, where methane released by the waste will be converted into electric power by generators and fed directly into the city's power grid.
This will help cut back on the amount of coal burnt at the power stations that serve the city - and thus reduce South Africa's production of greenhouse gases.
"The project will enable South Africa to earn carbon credits through the Clean Development Mechanism," the French Embassy said in a statement following the signing
of the loan agreement with the AFD in Durban on Tuesday.
"These carbon credits will be sold through the Prototype Carbon Fund managed by the World Bank."
The project is one of the first in South Africa to be eligible for carbon credit trading.
The AFD, which supports development projects in the fields of energy efficiency, service delivery and job creation, plans to contribute over R3-billion to local projects as part of a recently signed Framework Charter for Partnership between France and South Africa.
SouthAfrica.info reporter and BuaNews
