Mossel Bay was the location of the launch this week of South Africa’s first independent power plant funded by carbon credits generated under the Kyoto Protocol. The plant, at the state-owned gas-to-liquids refinery PetroSA, produces 4.2MW of electricity from biogas and was developed and financed by MethCap, a firm owned by WSP Group, an international engineering company, the Central Energy Fund and a group of broad-based black economic empowerment investors.

Minerals and Energy minister Buyelwa Sonjica officially opened the plant, which took 11 months to build. Sonjica said that the launch of the project indicated that the implementation of renewable energy projects was practicable and that it was important to view the project as a catalyst for the development of further renewable energy projects in South Africa.

Charles Liebenberg, managing director of MethCap, which and owns and operates the plant said that the project incorporated a number of elements of sustainability. In the course of its lifetime, the plant will save more than 500 000 tons of carbon dioxide being emitted by the national electricity grid.