Sun Exchange completes $1.4m crowdsale for agricultural solar project

Solar energy marketplace Sun Exchange has completed a $1.4-million crowdsale for a 510 kW solar and 1 MWh battery storage project to power the packhouse and cold store facilities of Zimbabwean agriculture company Nhimbe Fresh. The fresh produce grower and exporter will save about $2-million on its solar installation and reduce overall energy costs by about 60%. As the solar power is replacing coal and diesel energy sources, its carbon emissions will be reduced by more than one-million kilograms a year, Sun Exchange said in a March 31 statement.
/by

Global energy leaders say jobs must be at heart of people-centred energy transition

Employment creation for workers and communities at the highest risk of disruption as a result of the shift to greater climate-resiliency was identified during a gathering of global energy leaders on Wednesday as essential to ensuring that the transition was not only people-centred but also secured popular supported. This “jobs, jobs, jobs” mantra was confirmed by all the participants in a virtual panel discussion convened under the theme of ‘Ensuring a people-centred transitions’, held as part of the larger IEA-COP26 Net Zero Summit, hosted jointly by International Energy Agency (IEA) executive director Fatih Birol and COP26 president-designate Alok Sharma.
/by

Kusile Unit 3 achieves commercial operation

State-owned power utility Eskom on March 31 announced that Unit 3 of the Kusile power station, in eMalahleni, Mpumalanga, had achieved commercial operation this week. “Bringing the 800 MW unit to commercial status means construction has reached the halfway mark on project,” it said in a statement.
/by

South Africa requires more than 21 GW of energy storage for least-cost 100% renewables

Energy and marine equipment manufacturer Wärtsilä South Africa on March 31 said the country would need more than 28 GW of flexible assets, including more than 21 GW of energy storage and more than 6.8 GW of flexible gas power capacity, to run on 100% renewable energy at the lowest cost. The capacity needed to balance South Africa’s switch to grids powered by intermittent renewables must come from two key technologies, namely energy storage and flexible gas power capacity, capable of running on future fuels. Future fuels can be produced during periods when renewables produce more electricity than is needed, said Wärtsilä Energy South Africa business development manager Wayne Glossop.
/by