Last month, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) announced the preferred bidders for Bid Window 5 of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). This will see just short of 2 600 MW of new generation capacity being developed by independent power producers (IPPs), including 1 600 MW from onshore wind energy and 1 000 MW from solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants. This is in line with the government’s intention to increase generation capacity and ensure the security of energy supply to society.
Renewable-energy provider Africa Clean Energy Solutions (ACES) Renewables is developing multiple renewable-energy projects across South Africa. “We are developing a 10 MW biomass plant, in Mpumalanga, which will provide power for the surrounding mines in the area. We are also developing a 2.8 MW photovoltaic (PV) solar farm – with the possibility of increasing to 10 MW – in Kariega, Gqeberha, which will supply power to surrounding industrial clients,” says ACES Renewables technical project manager Tumelo Lekalakala.
Producing ‘green steel’ in South Africa might be a distant dream, but exporting ‘green iron-ore’ is achievable in the medium term, says Afriforesight materials engineer and project innovation manager Dr Brandon Davoren. Amid the global trend towards sustainability and in the wake of the twenty-sixth United Nations’ Climate Change Conference of the Parties, or COP26, mining companies and steel producers are considering the viability of ‘greening’ the steel industry and, as a result, the iron-ore sector.
An ongoing study funded by the World Bank under the guiding leadership of mineral research organisation Mintek has found that there are considerable opportunities for South Africa in the battery storage value chain. The country, however, needs to move quickly to capitalise on these opportunities to ensure that valuable resources and financial benefits do not leave the region, it was revealed during the World Bank’s Battery Storage Value Chain Creation in Southern Africa Online stakeholder engagement workshop, held on December 9.
High-temperature and pressure static equipment solutions provider Steinmüller Africa has received two orders to upgrade State-owned utility Eskom’s Tutuka and Duhva power stations, in Mpumalanga, with a total of 14 new high-pressure heaters. As specified by Eskom’s requirements, these header-type heaters will range from 12 m to 14 m long and will be 2 m in diameter.
Independent power company Globeleq, energy and chemicals multinational Sasol and Mozambique State-owned power utility Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM) have announced financial close of the Central Termica de Temane (CTT) power project. Located at Temane, in the Inhambane province, CTT comprises 450 MW gas-fired power plant, which will supply power to EDM under a 25-year tolling agreement.
Creamer Media’s Chanel de Bruyn speaks to Engineering News Editor Terence Creamer about Eskom’s tariff application of 2022/23, the initial confusion about whether Eskom’s request might be higher than 20.5% and the consultation process by Nersa.
City Lodge Hotel Group’s new Courtyard Hotel Waterfall City, in Midrand, which opened on March 1, offers a full dining experience, a move away from a breakfast-only offering. This represents the vision for the group moving forward. Tasneem Bulbulia tells us more.
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has finally initiated public consultations on Eskom’s 2022/23 revenue application, following a long delay that culminated in a December 3 court order instructing the regulator to make a tariff determination by no later than February 25. The paper has been released together with Eskom’s fifth multiyear price determination (MYPD5) revenue application, which covers a three-year period, but the adjudication will be confined to the coming financial year, in line with the High Court judgment.
South Africa’s Mpumalanga province can compensate for a large share of the job losses that will arise in its declining coal sector and lay the foundations for the creation of a new clean-energy hub for the country by scaling up investments in renewable energy and accelerating coal decommissioning, a new study shows. Published by the International Energy Transition and the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, of Potsdam in Germany, the study assesses the co-benefits of a transition from coal to renewable energy.
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