The South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI) is rolling out 26 000 m2 of cool roofing technology in the City of Cape Town as part of the Cool Roofs and Insulation Collaboration. The purpose of the roll out is to demonstrate the power of passive cooling when cool coatings are used in conjunction with insulation.
Aim-listed Bushveld Minerals continues to progress with the hybrid minigrid project being developed at the Vametco vanadium mine, near Brits, on the Western Limb of the Bushveld Complex in South Africa.

The project comprises 3.5 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) generation and 4 MWh of vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) storage.

The University of Pretoria (UP) will, for the next month, provide training for technical and vocational education and training college graduates on hydrogen fuel cell systems.

The training, which is provided in partnership with Bambili Energy, the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation and the Energy & Water Sector Education Training Authority (EWSeta), is expected to end on December 11.

Energy and chemicals group Sasol, which is coming under increasing pressure to reduce its carbon emissions, reports that climate change is now “front and centre” in its unfolding ‘strategic reset’, which will involve a transition away from coal to gas, renewable energy and green hydrogen. In South Africa, the company converts coal, and some gas, into a range of liquid fuels and chemicals using processes that also emit more than 62-million tons of greenhouse-gas emissions yearly. Its Secunda complex, in Mpumalanga, contributes more than 56-million tons of those yearly emissions alone.
Assurance, advisory and tax services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) reports – through its newly released Africa Oil & Gas Review, titled Energising a New Tomorrow – that the rampant spread of the Covid-19 pandemic globally has resulted in galvanising of commitments to a green energy transition.

PwC energy strategy and infrastructure director James Mackay says the Covid-19 pandemic has played “havoc” in global economies and energy markets, with oil being shown to be particularly vulnerable. “In response, the developed world has accelerated the renewable energy transition through greening policy, economic stimulus and investment.”

Absa is mulling the roll-out of a finance mechanism for electric vehicles (EVs) that will incorporate a solar home installation to charge that vehicle, says Absa Vehicle and Asset Finance (AVAF) business analytics and strategy head Henry Botha. However, before that can happen, South Africa’s EV car park needs to grow significantly, providing economies of scale to the banking sector for EV financing solutions.