Dedisa starts commercial operation in Eastern Cape

Dedisa Peaking Power is a joint venture of ENGIE (formerly GDF SUEZ, France), South African black majority owned Legend Power Solutions, Mitsui & Co., Ltd. from Japan, and The Peaker Trust from South Africa.

Together with the 670MW Avon Peaking Power Project near Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, Dedisa is South Africa's first large scale independent power project originated by the Department of Energy. The power generated by these two open cycle gas turbine power plants will be sold to Eskom under a power purchase agreement (PPA) over a 15 year term.

Local employment

The construction of Dedisa Peaking Power, by the consortium of Ansaldo Energia and Fata of Italy, started in September 2013. It has been a major source of local employment, with a peak of 1,400 workers on site reached in November 2014. Recruitment as well as local subcontracting were made largely in coordination with the Coega Development Corporation, the industrial development zone authority.

The achievements of the project during construction, in terms of job creation, skills transfer and BEE, exceeded the objectives agreed with the South African government. 70% of the total workforce employed to construct the facility was from the local black communities, with 57% black management, and in excess of 2.3% of payroll was spent on skills development initiatives. The operation of the plant will create permanent direct and indirect jobs for the local community over the 15 years of the PPA.

The start of operations will also benefit The Peaker Trust, an independent trust that has been established to ensure that local broad-based black organisations and communities can benefit from the project. The trust owns 10% of Dedisa and the dividends it gets out of the plant operations will go to local socio-economic development initiatives for at least 15 years.

Solid partnership

"Dedisa has started commercial operation on schedule and I want to sincerely thank everyone who has contributed to this achievement for their efforts and support. We owe our success to a solid partnership, strong support from both local and national authorities, and highly motivated teams," Arnaud de Limburg, CEO of Dedisa Peaking Power, commented.

"I'm also proud that we have attained our goal with the utmost attention to our economic development objectives. Looking ahead, I am confident that in the frame of South Africa's Gas Master Plan we will be able to convert the Dedisa facility to base-load and combined cycle as envisaged by the Department of Energy," he concluded.