Consortium unveils plans for zero-emission Eastern Cape e-methanol plant

An agreement for the development of a greenfield facility in Humansdorp, in the Eastern Cape, to manufacture zero-carbon e-methanol for sale locally and for export has been concluded by a consortium comprising Earth and Wire, ENERTRAG South Africa and 24Solutions. The proposed facility will produce e-methanol by combining green hydrogen, produced through an electrolyser using renewable electricity and desalinated seawater, with a synthesis gas, derived from a mixed feedstock of locally sourced biomass and unrecyclable municipal solid waste fed into a gasifier.
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Affected parties invited to comment on Eskom’s latest ash, gypsum disposal proposal

The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) has published, for comment, a draft amendment report on a proposed ash and gypsum co-disposal facility owned by State-owned power utility Eskom.

The Integrated Environmental Authorisation initially issued by the department in 2015 has since been amended three times.

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Steel giant to harness green hydrogen, renewables to produce zero-carbon steel

Steel group ArcelorMittal has signed an undertaking with the Spanish government in support of a €1-billion plan to construct a green hydrogen direct reduced iron (DRI) plant and a new hybrid electric arc furnace (EAF) at its facility in Gijón, in Asturias, as part of a pioneering move to transition the company’s Sestao plant, also in Spain, to a net-zero facility by the end of 2025. The proposed development has been outlined in a memorandum of understanding, signed this week, in which ArcelorMittal indicates that its Sestao plant is set to become the world’s first full-scale steel plant to manufacture zero carbon emissions steel.
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AfDB provides $6m grant to launch West Africa desert-to-power programme

Development finance institution the African Development Bank (AfDB) has provided a $6-million grant to the West African Power Pool (WAPP) to conduct prefeasibility studies for the construction of the Sahel Transmission Backbone that will link regional solar parks in five countries that contribute to the WAPP. The grant is to launch the initial phase of the Desert to Power West Africa Regional Energy Programme. The AfDB-led Desert to Power initiative is expected to transform the Sahel by harnessing the region’s abundant solar potential.
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Trina Solar expands into South Africa with new distribution facility

Solar photovoltaic (PV) and energy solutions provider Trina Solar will be launching a new distribution facility in South Africa. The expansion, the company says in a statement on July 13, comes as a step that further “caters to the company’s overarching expansion strategy to grow in the region”.
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Shell expresses concern over RMIPPPP delays as it confirms Karpowership SA partnership

Shell South Africa country chairperson Hloniphizwe Mtolo has confirmed that the energy group is the exclusive supplier of liquified natural gas (LNG) to Karpowership SA, whose three projects, totalling 1 220 MW, were named in March as preferred bidders under government’s Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP). In a statement, Mtolo argued that the three projects would assist the country to address its prevailing electricity shortfall and that Shell was “extremely concerned” about delays to the RMIPPPP.
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Cape storm could cause lengthy power outages, warns Eskom

Severe winter weather in the Western Cape poses a threat to Eskom’s network, the power utility warned on Monday. In a statement, Eskom said strong winds, extreme cold and heavy rainfall could affect electricity supply, potentially leaving some customers with prolonged periods without power.
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Despite tailwinds, South Africa’s recovery could fade into ‘another lost decade’ without …

The World Bank expects South Africa to grow by 4% in 2021, supported by the strong global economic recovery from Covid and favourable commodity prices. However, the bank also warns that the medium-term outlook remains uncertain and will depend largely on whether the country is able to implement deeper economic reforms that support job creation and entrepreneurship. In its thirteenth South Africa Economic Update, released on July 12, the bank shows that the 2021 rebound, which follows the dramatic 7% contraction of 2020, is being underpinned by strong recoveries in key trading partners such as China and the US, as well as a marked improvement in its terms of trade.
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Eskom remembers former chairperson Dr Ben Ngubane

State-owned power utility Eskom has conveyed its “heartfelt” condolences on the death of former chairperson Dr Ben Ngubane, who succumbed to Covid-19-related illness on the morning of July 12.
 
Ngubane joined the Eskom board of directors as a nonexecutive director on December 11, 2014, and was appointed interim chairperson on March 30, 2015. He was later appointed as chairperson but resigned from the organisation on June 12, 2017.
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High-capacity vehicles could be a cost-saver for Eskom

State-owned entities, like South Africa’s Eskom, should consider using high-capacity vehicles to reduce overall capital costs, says Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) principal research engineer Christopher de Saxe. A high-capacity vehicle is essentially a vehicle that carries more load than what is conventional for the country in which it operates in, and in South Africa, regulations permit vehicles up to 56 t, and 22 m in length – any vehicle that exceeds this would be considered a high-capacity vehicle.
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