AAP Carbon has been granted a Kalina Cycle license for sub-Saharan Africa as part of a recent agreement with Wasabi Energy, which has increased its stake in the company from 25 to 62.5 per cent
With real growth at five per cent of GDP, sub-Saharan Africa is one of the world’s fastest growing regions and provision of reliable power is a key component to ensure ongoing economic growth, Wasabi said.
AAP Carbon’s flagship co-generation plant is the 20MW International Ferro Metals power plant, where carbon monoxide-rich waste gas is harnessed to produce in excess of 160mn kWh per annum of low-emission electricity for International Ferro Metal’s use.
Wasabi has been in discussions with AAP Carbon regarding the installation of a power plant utilising Kalina Cycle technology. The technology, developed by Global Geothermal, can be used to recycle waste heat generated from power plants, producing up to 20 per cent additional electricity.
John Byrne, executive chairman of Wasabi Energy, said, “Wasabi Energy has been working closely with AAP Carbon since early 2012. We are impressed with the opportunities available to the group in South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa with a number of projects being well advanced.
“The joining together of AAP Carbon with Wasabi Energy’s business development activities provides a powerful combination of expertise, proven track record in the development and implementation of projects and a unique offering with the combination of chemical and thermal energy conversion with the use of the Kalina Cycle.”
Under the terms of the transaction, AAP Carbon issued 15.2mn new shares and 4.7mn warrants exercisable at US$0.10 to Wasabi as consideration for an exclusive Kalina Cycle license (excluding the cement and lime industry which was granted to FLSmidth) and Wasabi’s business development activities in Sub-Saharan Africa.
In addition to industrial waste heat applications, the Kalina Cycle can be utilised with heat from renewable sources such as geothermal and solar thermal using a binary power plant.
Currently, there is approximately 217MW of geothermal energy produced in Africa, with most coming from flash steam power plants using high temperature sources from the geothermal fields in Kenya (202MW) and where there is also a 140MW geothermal plant under construction.
According to the Geothermal Energy Association, the remainder of the geothermal power in Africa largely comes from Ethiopia.
The Sub-Saharan African market offers abundant opportunities for the development of AAP Carbon with its portfolio of chemical and thermal energy conversion for both the industrial waste heat and renewable heat sectors, Wasabi added.
According to a recent study by the World Bank’s African Energy Unit (AFTEG) of the 54 African nations, 25 face an energy crisis, with experts predicting that unless stronger commitments are put in place to reverse current trends, half of the population of Sub-Saharan Africa will be without electricity by 2030.
