Coega won't close if Thyspunt fails

IN RESPONSE to "Eskom crisis puts Coega's future at risk" (November 22 2013) and "Energy crisis saps power from South African economy: Experts", (February 18), the Coega Development Corporation would like to set the record straight.

While Coega acknowledges that one of the answers to meeting rising electricity demand is a nuclear reactor, it would not be wise to say that "electricity could be a huge stumbling block for the viability and future of Coega." Currently, Coega is backing up and feeding the ailing Nelson Mandela Bay municipal electricity infrastructure.

Moreover, a consortium led by international power company GDF Suez has broken ground on the R3.5-billion peaking power station, named Dedisa, within the Coega Industrial Development Zone (IDZ). Consisting of two open-cycle gas turbines able to produce 335MW – roughly half Nelson Mandela Bay's power requirement – Dedisa will bring an end to the types of rolling blackouts which crippled the region's economy in 2008. Dedisa will begin operating in the second half of next year.

Other mega-projects in the pipeline are being catered for in feasibility studies and Thyspunt is a key enabling factor for future developments in the IDZ. However, we would by no means close the IDZ if Nuclear 1 did not go ahead as planned. Although electricity is a concern – plans and implementation phases are well under way to meet current and future demand. At Coega, we are ahead of the curve, both actively lobbying for diverse sources of energy supply and maintaining our infrastructure to meet with current and future investor demands.

Ayanda Vilakazi, head of marketing and communications, Coega Development Corporation