Eskom looks at wood for fire

Electricity parastatal Eskom may use wood-based biomass fuels for firing or co-firing its coal fired power stations.

In an advertisement in Business Day newspaper on Monday, the utility called for an expression of interest to enable it to set up a list of consultants able to conduct a study on the availability and sustainability of wood-based biomass for use in power stations.

Eskom said the study would cover which wood-based biomass fuels were available in South Africa and who the potential suppliers would be.

The study would also concentrate on what the total available tonnage and reliability of wood-based biomass fuel would be.

The nature of the existing infrastructure for transport of wood-based biomass fuel from forestry to processing industries and finally to power stations would also be considered.