Sunon Asogli is looking to tap into South Africa’s large coal deposits to fire its proposed coal power plant in Ghana.

Officials of the company visited South Africa earlier this month to explore the possibility of importing coal, Said William Yan, Director of Commerce and Procurement.

South Africa is said to produce in excess of 255 million tonnes of coal; around 77% of South Africa's energy needs are directly derived from coal, and 92% of coal consumed on the African continent is produced in South Africa.

Sunon Asogli, backed by its parent company -- the Shenzhen Energy Group, plans to set up a 1,200megawatt coal-fired power plant in Ghana, the first phase of which is expected to produce 700megawatts of power.

A special technical team from China is expected in the country next month to begin negotiations with the Volta River Authority for the joint venture coal plant, William Yan told the B&FT.

The Western Region, he said, has been tentatively chosen for the plant’s location to take advantage of the proposed Atuabo Port for birthing the ships that bring in the coal.

South Africa is one of the seven largest coal-producing and one of the top five coal-exporting countries in the world.

More than a quarter of coal mined in South Africa is exported, most of which leaves the country via Richards Bay -- a town in KwaZulu-Natal with a large harbour. Coal is South Africa's third largest source of foreign exchange; platinum being the largest and gold second.

In spite of heightened environmentalism, coal remains fundamental to power-generation across the globe, providing over 60% of power needs in the world.

Even Germany, a country that set itself the ambitious goal in 2010 of producing 80% of its electricity from renewable sources such as wind and solar, by 2050, relies on coal plants during high-demand times.

Since 1983 the world’s top coal producer has been China; in 2011 China produced 3,520 millions of tonnes of coal -- 49.5% of 7,695 million tonnes world coal production, notes BP’s Statistical review of world energy 2012.

In 2011 other large producers were United States (993 million tonnes), India (589), European Union (576) and Australia (416).

In 2010 the largest exporters were Australia with 328 million tonnes (27.1% of world coal export) and Indonesia with 316 million tonnes (26.1%), while the largest importers were Japan with 207 million tonnes (17.5% of world coal import), China with 195 million tonnes (16.6%) and South Korea with 126 million tonnes (10.7%)’