ANGLO AMERICAN PLATINUM LIMITED
05 August 2014
Anglo American Platinum Limited (Anglo American Platinum or "the Company"), the world's largest primary producer of platinum, and Ballard Power Systems, today launched the world's first fuel cell mini-grid electrification field trial. The system is being trialled as a provider of electricity to remote communities where the cost of electrification via an expansion of the national grid may be cost or technically prohibitive.
Anglo American Platinum and Ballard have partnered with Eskom and South Africa's Department of Energy to conduct the12-month trial in the rural community of Naledi Trust which is part of the Moqhaka Local Municipality in the southern part of the Fezile Dabi District of the Free State Province of South Africa. The 34 household community will be powered using a fuel cell prototype product developed for use in off-grid residential application and will be fuelled with methanol.
Platinum-based fuel cells provide significant economic and environmental development opportunities for South Africa by facilitating the provision of clean, reliable and cost-effective power.
Andrew Hinkly, Anglo American Platinum's Executive Head of Marketing said, "This field trial will provide valuable insight into the market requirements of off-grid communities. The fuel cell product has significant market potential in South Africa and the rest of Africa. When commercialised, these products will provide an opportunity to create jobs in South Africa - designing fit-for-purpose power systems, manufacturing and assembly, installation, operation, maintenance and fuel supply jobs as examples. We see this vision being very much in line with the objectives of the National Development Plan."
The trial utilises Ballard's commercially proven 5 kilowatt (kW) ElectraGen™-ME fuel cell system, integrated by local engineering suppliers into a complete prototype off-grid solution, including a battery bank and inverter operating within a micro-grid. The system is designed to provide a total of 15 kW of fuel cell-generated electric power and can generate peak power of 70 kW with the support of batteries. This configuration will power the 34 homes in the Naledi Trust rural community. Monthly delivery of liquid methanol fuel to an external storage tank enables uninterrupted primary power to these homes.
The field trial is intended to validate the technical and operating requirements of a home generator product for off-grid applications in South Africa. Other important factors also being assessed include the logistics of fuel delivery, rural consumer electricity usage patterns as well as ongoing product maintenance requirements.
Godfrey Oliphant, Department of Mineral Resources' Deputy Minister said, "The entire fuel cell value chain could be located in South Africa once sufficient scale is reached. In turn, a number of manufacturing and service jobs can be created from this initiative, providing an opportunity for export of value-added products to other emerging markets. This will create a new technology sector in the country. It also, significantly supports the South African Beneficiation Strategy by creating additional platinum demand of up to 7,500oz over 15 years through the creation of a new market".
Moqhaka Executive Mayor, Justice Mareka, added, "Access to reliable, low cost and clean electricity is a vital component of the social and economic well-being of our community. We are pleased the Naledi Trust community has been selected as part of this trial-programme for the fuel cell home generator prototype."
In parallel with the 12-month field trial, ongoing development work at Ballard will continue on a new lower cost methanol fuel reformer and longer life fuel cell stack for a commercial version of the home generator, funded by Anglo American Platinum.
Karim Kassam, Ballard's Vice President of Business Development said, "In addition to being a catalyst for growth of off-grid residential applications, successful development of a commercial home generator product is also expected to offer cost reduction benefits for the ElectraGen™ ME methanol-fuelled systems used in commercial Telecom Backup Power applications."
For further information, please contact:
Media:
Mpumi Sithole
Tel: +27 (0)11 373 6246
mpumi.sithole@angloamerican.com
Investors:
Emma Chapman
Tel (UK): +44 (0)20 7968 8451
emma.chapman@angloamerican.com
Notes to editors:
Anglo American Platinum Limited is a member of the Anglo American plc Group and is the world's leading primary producer of platinum group metals. The company is listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE). Its mining, smelting and refining operations are based in South Africa. Elsewhere in the world, the Group owns Unki Platinum Mine in Zimbabwe and is actively exploring in Brazil. Anglo American Platinum has a number of joint ventures with several historically disadvantaged South African consortia as part of its commitment to the transformation of the mining industry. Anglo American Platinum is committed to the highest standards of safety and continues to make meaningful and sustainable difference in the development of the communities around its operations.
www.angloamericanplatinum.com
Anglo American is one of the world's largest mining companies, is headquartered in the UK and listed on the London and Johannesburg stock exchanges. Our portfolio of mining businesses meets our customers' changing needs and spans bulk commodities - iron ore and manganese, metallurgical coal and thermal coal; base metals and minerals - copper, nickel, niobium and phosphates; and precious metals and minerals - in which we are a global leader in both platinum and diamonds. At Anglo American, we are committed to working together with our stakeholders - our investors, our partners and our employees - to create sustainable value that makes a real difference, while upholding the highest standards of safety and responsibility across all our businesses and geographies. The company's mining operations, pipeline of growth projects and exploration activities span southern Africa, South America, Australia, North America, Asia and Europe.
www.angloamerican.com
|
distributed by
|
