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Electricity News

Activists push South African pension funds to tally climate costs

By: Bloomberg 15th April 2019 Pension funds in South Africa have a legal obligation to account for the financial effects of climate change on their investments, according to two groups lobbying money managers to pay closer attention to the issue. Shareholder activists Just Share and environmental law organisation ClientEarth... →

Lemur invites EPCTC contractors to tender for Imaloto project

By: Marleny Arnoldi 12th April 2019 Aim-listed Bushveld Minerals’ subsidiary Lemur Holdings has put out an invitation for expressions of interest for the engineering, procurement, construction, testing and commissioning (EPCTC) of some parts of the company’s Imaloto power project, in Madagascar. The company urged interested... →

High risk of load-shedding for Thursday evening

By: News24Wire 11th April 2019 For the first time in almost three weeks South Africans may be faced with rotational power outages on Thursday evening, as Eskom again battles a shortage of capacity. The power utility announced on Thursday afternoon that there is a high risk of Stage 1 load-shedding for Thursday evening between... →

Goldman says Eskom's crisis leaves no time for unbundling plan

By: Bloomberg 11th April 2019 South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s plan to split the State-owned power utility into generation, distribution and transmission divisions will take longer than the government has to revive the business, according to Goldman Sachs Group. Eskom Holdings is focusing on trying to avoid... →

Manufacturing Indaba to focus on negative effects of power outages

By: African News Agency 11th April 2019 Organisers of the Manufacturing Indaba 2019 said on Thursday that this year's conference is set to unpack promising solutions that manufacturers can implement in an attempt to recover their losses resulting from the nation's rolling blackouts. Major concerns have surfaced among South African... →

Bushveld subsidiary advances Imaloto project towards financial close

By: Marleny Arnoldi 10th April 2019 Aim-listed Bushveld Minerals’ coal and energy subsidiary Lemur Holdings has signed a project preparation finance facility agreement with the Development Bank of Southern Africa for $1-million, which will be used for the development of the Imaloto project, in Madagascar. The loan will enable Lemur... →

Western Cape schools to become solar-powered using solar-leasing funding

By: Schalk Burger 10th April 2019 Solar microleasing marketplace Sun Exchange announced on Wednesday that it would be a key partner in providing solar power for several Western Cape Education Department schools, starting with Protea Heights Academy, in Cape Town. Sun Exchange enables schools and businesses to have solar power... →

Cost of decarbonising global energy system falls sharply, new report shows

By: Terence Creamer 9th April 2019 Rapidly falling renewable-energy costs, together with emerging opportunities to electrify other energy end-uses such as transportation and heating, are continuing to reduce the investment premium associated with placing the world on a more climate-friendly path, a new international report... →

Eskom to class action firm: We can’t be sued for load-shedding and here’s why

By: News24Wire 9th April 2019 Eskom says that based on legal advice it has received, a law firm seeking to initiate a class action suit against it on behalf of companies which have been affected by load-shedding, has little ground to stand on. Eskom spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe said that the legal advice the power utility had... →

Winter plan to minimise load-shedding requires South Africans to use electricity efficiently, says Eskom

By: African News Agency 8th April 2019 The State-owned power utility Eskom on Monday urged South Africans to use electricity efficiently to minimise load-shedding during cold weather conditions. Eskom said the demand for electricity was projected to increase and the power system was forecast to be tight for this week. The winter plan... →

Economic growth in Africa below population growth for the fourth year in row

By: Terence Creamer 8th April 2019 Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest economies, including South Africa, continued to act as a drag on the economic performance of the region in 2018, new analysis by the World Bank shows. The nineteenth edition of the bank’s bi-annual ‘Africa’s Pulse’ publication indicates that growth across the... →

Report says digital transformation has potential to accelerate development in Africa

Globeleq, Aurora Power Solutions to build PV projects in Zambia

By: Simone Liedtke 8th April 2019 Independent power producer Globeleq and renewable energy company Sola Group’s Aurora Power Solutions have been awarded two 20 MW solar photovoltaic projects, in Zambia. These projects form part of the Get Fit Zambia programme, through which the government aims to procure 200 MW of renewable... →

Power shortages in South Africa could get a whole lot worse

By: Bloomberg 8th April 2019 An electricity-supply crisis is looming in South Africa that could make intermittent outages in the past few months seem trivial by comparison. Eskom Holdings, which supplies almost all the nation’s power, will lose more than a quarter of its current generating capacity over the next decade as it... →

Get Fit Zambia successfully awards six solar PV projects

By: Simone Liedtke 5th April 2019 Get Fit Zambia, which was designed to assist the Zambian government in the implementation of its Refit Strategy, on Friday announced that six solar photovoltaic independent power producer projects, totalling 120 MW, have been awarded. Get Fit Zambia aims to procure 200 MW of renewable energy... →

Clough JV awarded civil works contract for Australian hydropower project

By: Marleny Arnoldi 5th April 2019 The Clough Salini joint venture (JV) has been appointed as the contractor for the Snowy 2.0 hydropower project, in New South Wales, Australia. The JV’s scope of work on the project is valued at about A$1.8-billion, spanning over the next five years. →

Ncondezi, GridX start JV for solar, battery projects in Africa

By: Marleny Arnoldi 5th April 2019 Aim-listed Ncondezi Energy has entered into a term sheet with power developer GridX Africa Development, enabling the companies to enter into a joint venture (JV) that is focused on building and operating captive solar and battery storage solutions for the African commercial and industrial sector.... →

IPPs and distributed energy solutions drive innovation

5th April 2019 While the obligation to deliver safe, reliable power to customers through aging assets is paramount, utilities face a rapidly evolving market as independent power producers (IPPs) and distributed generation solutions drive innovation and investment, says engineering, procurement and construction... →

SOLAR POWER Distributed energy resources are forcing utilities to find ways to distribute electricity in a sustainable and efficient manner or risk losing customers

Demand for utility-scale battery solutions increasing

By: Thabi Madiba 5th April 2019 Advancements in energy storage technology are starting to reflect in the rise of utility-scale battery solutions, which could revolutionise the ability of intermittent renewables to have higher penetration into the grid, says solar energy company SOLA Future Energy CEO Dr Dom Wills. The company... →

ROBBEN ISLAND BATTERY ROOM SOLA stores excess solar power in lithium-ion batteries and deploys it as the sun sets, resulting in an overall reduction of the diesel used to operate generators

Energy storage a viable solution to load-shedding

By: Thabi Madiba 5th April 2019 Amid State-owned power utility Eskom’s announcement of there being a high risk of rotational load-shedding, which will be implemented only if absolutely necessary, power management company Eaton South Africa MD Seydou Kane says energy storage solutions can play an important role in creating more... →

SEYDOU KANE Energy storage solutions provide not only flexibility but also cost savings, should they be integrated into a company’s power grid

Interest in hydrogen storage increasing

By: Thabi Madiba 5th April 2019 Interest in hydrogen energy storage continues to grow, owing to the very large storage capacity that liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC) technology offers, compared with other technologies. Currently, most hydrogen is stored as a cryogenic liquid or is compressed under high pressure, which are... →

Opinion: If renewables are so cheap, why are we paying so much for them?

By: Tobias Bischof-Niemz 5th April 2019 Hardly a week passes without a statement being made about the high costs of renewable energy in South Africa. Typically, the argument is made on social media and is framed to suggest that Eskom is buying electricity at R2.22/kWh from renewable-energy independent power producers (REIPPs) and that... →

Uptick in demand for water-sector consulting

By: Cameron Mackay 5th April 2019 Despite subdued demand for consulting engineering services in South Africa, engineering consulting firm SRK Consulting South Africa has noted an increase in demand for the group’s water-sector consulting services. “As the country faces a backlog in water infrastructure maintenance, it must also... →

THE MATZIKAMMA MUNICIPALITY The Matzikamma municipality coastline was deemed suitable for land-based aquaculture farming

Lucas calls Northern Cape Africa’s renewables hub as she inaugurates Kathu Solar Park

By: Marleny Arnoldi 4th April 2019 The Kathu Solar Park, in the Northern Cape, was inaugurated by the province’s Premier Sylvia Lucas, on Thursday. The project was commissioned in February. →

Eskom review team says strong leadership key for restoration of plant performance

By: Terence Creamer 4th April 2019 The Eskom Technical Review Team, appointed in March to provide an independent assessment of the performance of the State-owned utility’s power stations, says several coal plants can, with strong and empowered leadership, meet the much-vaunted energy availability factor (EAF) goal of 80%. It has... →

'The whole country is counting on us': What Eskom boss told staff when stage 4 hit

By: News24Wire 4th April 2019 "The whole country is counting on every one of us to do the right thing". This is what Eskom's COO, Jan Oberholzer, wrote to staff in a memo mid-March when the power utility was implementing stage 4 load-shedding to keep the lights on. →

Photo by Creamer Media's Dylan Slater
Eskom COO Jan Oberholzer

Eskom provides system update

4th April 2019 Creamer Media's Chanel de Bruyn speaks to Engineering News Editor Terence Creamer about a media briefing hosted by Eskom and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan at the Lethabo power station this week to update the country on the state of Eskom’s power system and whether the country is... →

Eskom provides system update

Strong renewable energy capacity growth continues

By: Simone Liedtke 4th April 2019 The decade-long trend of strong growth in renewable energy capacity continued in 2018 with global additions of 171 GW, according to data released by the International Renewable Energy Agency this week. The year-on-year increase of 7.9% was bolstered by new additions from solar and wind energy,... →

Eskom’s financial woes not abating in sync with load-shedding risk

By: Terence Creamer 3rd April 2019 The cautiously optimistic prognosis provided by Eskom on the outlook for electricity supply for the coming nine months has been more than offset by the State-owned utility’s disturbing assessment of its financial predicament. The group, which implemented ten days of confidence-sapping power cuts... →

Photo by Creamer Media's Terence Creamer
Lethabo power station

Ministerial approval for new Mozambique electricity law pending

By: Marleny Arnoldi 3rd April 2019 Mozambique’s Council of Ministers is expected to review a new proposed Electricity Law during its next Parliamentary session in July or August, law firm CGA chairperson Pedro Couto said on Wednesday. He noted that the Mozambique government had concluded the necessary public consultation process... →

Load-shedding: Eskom's plan for winter and how it will keep the lights on

By: News24Wire 3rd April 2019 Public Enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan says that Eskom has come up with a detailed winter plan that includes several possible scenarios. Gordhan said the first scenario was if no load-shedding was implemented. →

Power cuts slow South African private sector activity in March – PMI

By: Reuters 3rd April 2019 Activity in South Africa's private sector contracted sharply in March, a survey showed on Wednesday, with firms citing electricity blackouts as the main drag on business. IHS Markit's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) slipped to 48.8 from February's 50.2 as falls in new orders and employment saw... →

Sanedi signs contract with SolarTurtle to develop next-gen solar kiosks

By: Schalk Burger 2nd April 2019 The South African National Energy Development Institute (Sanedi), the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and community empowerment solar photovoltaic (PV) product developer SolarTurtle have signed a contract to develop the next-generation SolarTurtle solar energy kiosk, called the... →

BABYTURTLE

Improved policy, regulation needed to help Eskom power SA, Brics Bank meeting told

By: African News Agency 2nd April 2019 Without alternative power generation capacity, unemployment will remain rampant in South Africa, Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) chief executive Patrick Dlamini said on Tuesday. "The policy makers, they have a decision to make, to make sure that you can be able to enable and sustain... →

Govt aid, tariffs may not be enough for debt-laden Eskom – Moody's

By: News24Wire 2nd April 2019 Ratings agency Moody's on Tuesday said that government's financial support to embattled power utility Eskom and the announcement of recent electricity tariffs by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa may prove "insufficient to address the company's long-standing financial troubles". It... →

S Africans to know more about state of country's electricity supply tomorrow

By: News24Wire 2nd April 2019 Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan and chairperson of the Eskom board Jabu Mabuza are expected to brief the media on the state of South Africa's electricity supply tomorrow. The briefing is expected to be at a power station in Johannesburg. →

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan

Necsa scientist in spotlight with award successes

By: Rebecca Campbell 2nd April 2019 A scientist from the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation, Dr Jan Rijn Zeevaart, has won two prestigious awards, one local and the other international. These are the Department of Science and Technology’s Top Intellectual Property Creator Award and the European Association of Nuclear... →

Gordhan: Radioactive leaks at Koeberg were 'negligible'

By: News24Wire 1st April 2019 Koeberg Nuclear Power Station released radioactive waste into the environment in three separate incidents in 2014 and 2015, but the quantities were "negligible" and fell under the threshold that would have made it necessary to notify the public, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has said... →

Photo by Creamer Media
Koeberg Nuclear Power Stations

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