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Electricity generation as a beneficial post closure land use option for dormant tailings storage facilities
Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2015.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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University of Pretoria
2015
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| _version_ | 1867613524916699136 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author2 | Jacobsz, Schalk Willem |
| author_browse | Jacobsz, Schalk Willem |
| author_facet | Jacobsz, Schalk Willem |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | © 2015 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. |
| description | Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2015. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/46258 |
| institution | University of Pretoria (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:37:31.320Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publishDateRange | 2015 |
| publishDateSort | 2015 |
| publisher | University of Pretoria |
| publisherStr | University of Pretoria |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| spelling | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/46258 Electricity generation as a beneficial post closure land use option for dormant tailings storage facilities Jacobsz, Schalk Willem Van Eeden, Stephanus Jacobus UCTD Closure Tailings Pump storage Electricity generation Renewable energy Energy transition Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-09 SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-07 SDG-07: Affordable and clean energy Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2015. As a result of the mining that has taken place over the last century in South Africa, many towns and cities have developed around mining hubs, the most significant of these being the city of Johannesburg. Over the years, residential areas have grown around these mine sites, even well after decommissioning of the mining activities. The mining activities left a lasting legacy of derelict mining infrastructure with negative effects on the surrounding environment and community, such as dormant mine shafts, sterilised land and abandoned Tailings Storage Facilities (TSFs). Due to lack of funds, commitment from mine owners and regulators these facilities are often left unrehabilitated, posing negative environmental impacts, including potential health hazards to the surrounding community. This legacy of problems posed by abandoned mines encountered in South Africa is probably unique in scale compared to any country in the world. A significant problem South Africa currently faces is an electricity shortage, especially during the high demand season from the start of June to end of August, when it is winter in South Africa. This period is occasionally associated with so called controlled “load shedding”, i.e. managed power interruptions to prevent overload and subsequent collapse of the electricity supply and distribution network. South Africa is highly reliant on coal-fired power stations for the majority of electricity consumed, which has detrimental effects on the environment due to high carbon emissions. However, a global shift towards renewable energy, as well as South Africa’s energy shortage, has forced the National Energy Regulator of South Africa to encourage greener alternatives. This study is aimed at finding an opportunity to generate more electricity, which is sustainable and with reduced carbon emissions. This study was conducted to determine the financial and practical feasibility of generating energy from the ERGO TSF, near Brakpan Johannesburg, as a post closure land use option. The following options were investigated: • Solar Photovoltaic electricity generation • Pump storage scheme development • A combinations of the above In addition, rainwater harvesting and wind power generation were also considered, but were abandoned early on in the study. From the study it was concluded that a Solar PV plant on top of the ERGO TSF will achieve the highest possible IRR of 10.70% and a power generation capacity of 471.9 MWp. Developing a pump storage scheme at the ERGO TSF can achieve an IRR of 10.27% and generation capacity of 78.2 MW. Combining the two options independently on the same site will result in an IRR of 10.61% and a combined peak generation capacity of 550 MW. If the combined system is required to be independent of the surplus electricity available in the grid an IRR of 10.32% and a combined generation capacity of 550 MW is achievable. From a financial and technical perspective it is considered to be most beneficial to implement only the solar PV plant on top of the ERGO TSF. Construction of a pump storage scheme on TSF is considered to be a challenging undertaking and seeing that its generation capacity is only 17% of that of the solar PV facility on the same ERGO site, it is probably not the optimal solution for utilisation. Solar panels are light weight structures that can easily be installed in large numbers on TSFs with little engineering challenges. tm2015 mi2025 Civil Engineering MEng Unrestricted SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure SDG-07: Affordable and clean energy 2015-07-02T11:08:30Z 2015-07-02T11:08:30Z 2015/04/14 2015 Dissertation Van Eeden, SJ 2015, Electricity generation as a beneficial post closure land use option for dormant tailings storage facilities, MEng Dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/46258> A2015 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/46258 en © 2015 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria |
| spellingShingle | UCTD Closure Tailings Pump storage Electricity generation Renewable energy Energy transition Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-09 SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-07 SDG-07: Affordable and clean energy Electricity generation as a beneficial post closure land use option for dormant tailings storage facilities |
| title | Electricity generation as a beneficial post closure land use option for dormant tailings storage facilities |
| title_full | Electricity generation as a beneficial post closure land use option for dormant tailings storage facilities |
| title_fullStr | Electricity generation as a beneficial post closure land use option for dormant tailings storage facilities |
| title_full_unstemmed | Electricity generation as a beneficial post closure land use option for dormant tailings storage facilities |
| title_short | Electricity generation as a beneficial post closure land use option for dormant tailings storage facilities |
| title_sort | electricity generation as a beneficial post closure land use option for dormant tailings storage facilities |
| topic | UCTD Closure Tailings Pump storage Electricity generation Renewable energy Energy transition Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-09 SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure Engineering, built environment and information technology theses SDG-07 SDG-07: Affordable and clean energy |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/46258 |