The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) intends convening a virtual bidders conference in April to provide information on the qualifying criteria and bid submission expectations for the fifth bid window (BW5) of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). The department formally launched the request for proposals (RFP) for BW5 after midnight on March 19, ending a near seven year interruption in the procurement of new wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) electricity.
Load shedding will be cancelled, for now, from noon on Friday as generation units return to service, Eskom has said in a statement. Earlier in the week, generation capacity had been lost at Medupi, Arnot, Duvha and Kendal power stations. The shortfall was partly attributed to boiler tube leaks, units tripping as well as an increase in demand, Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said.
The lead sponsor of a 128 MW hybrid facility named as a preferred bidder under South Africa’s Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP) reports that the project is pioneering globally in the way it will use co-located wind turbines, solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays, lithium-ion batteries and a hybrid controller that orchestrates all three technologies to provide dispatchable renewable energy to the grid as and when needed. The Oya Energy Hybrid Facility was named by Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe this week as one of eight preferred bidders selected under the RMIPPPP, through which government sought to procure 2 000 MW of ‘emergency power’ to be connected to the grid from August 2022.
Fossil fuels are, through a marked contribution to air pollution, accountable for 8.7-million deaths globally in 2018, which adds to the mounting evidence that air pollution from ongoing dependence on fossil fuels is detrimental to global health, says University College London (UCL) associate professor and co-author of a recent scientific study published in the Environmental Research journal Eloise Marais. She adds that the world cannot, in good conscience, continue to rely on fossil fuels, when it is known that there are such severe effects on health. Instead, more viable and cleaner alternatives should be considered.
The research of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) into accelerated decarbonisation scenarios for the South African power system confirms considerable opportunity to accelerate decarbonisation at low or zero net cost, says CSIR electrochemical energy technologies research group lead Mmalewane Modibedi. This can be achieved by leveraging the country’s considerable land mass, solar and wind resources, coupled with energy storage, as well as flexible demand and supply, as portrayed in the CSIR’s research development and innovation plan.
Energy management and automation company Schneider Electric has begun to implement its new Schneider Sustainability Impact (SSI) programme for 2021 to 2025, in the hopes of significantly accelerating its progress to being a more sustainable company. The programme is built on six long-term commitments, which are set to deliver on each of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
South Africa has the potential to generate upwards of 10 000 MW of power if it were to harness and capitalise on all biogas opportunities, however, the greatest challenge is not a lack of capacity but more the lack of market opportunity, says Southern African Biogas Industry Association (Sabia) chairperson Jason Gifford. Speaking during the Sabia webinar launch of its Biogas Market Position Paper, Gifford mentioned that the South African biogas industry is flourishing and holds vast potential for greener power generation.
With power generation being accountable for 41% of current global carbon emissions, which amount to about 33.7 Gt/y of carbon dioxide (CO2), multinational conglomerate General Electric Company (GE) believes that gas can play a vital role in decreasing carbon emissions. “Gas burns at less than half the CO2 of coal and GE seeks to convert its gas technologies to low or near-zero carbon emissions using hydrogen and carbon capture and sequestration technologies,” says GE Gas Power emerging technologies director Dr Jeffrey Goldmeer.
Renewable-energy and hydrogen supply company Nel Hydrogen has installed a 2 MW proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyser system at transport operator SunLine Transit’s premises in California, in the US, to fuel their fleet of fuel cell buses.
Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe released the names of the eight preferred bidders – including three powership projects – selected as part of government’s 2 000-MW ‘emergency’ procurement programme and also launched the much-anticipated fifth bid window (BW5) for the procurement of new wind and solar. However, he resisted growing calls for a raising of the licence-exemption threshold for distributed projects at mines, smelters, factories and farms from 1 MW to 50 MW, indicating instead that the cap would be increased to only 10 MW. This despite arguments that a liberalisation of South Africa’s convoluted licencing regime was the cheapest and quickest way to unlock at least 5 000 MW of new capacity within five years.
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