147 MW Karusa Wind Farm enters commercial operation

The 147 MW Karusa wind farm, in the Western Cape, has entered into commercial operation, raising Enel Green Power South Africa’s installed capacity to 1.2 GW across ten wind and solar projects. Located in a remote part of the Laingsburg local municipality, the €200-million wind farm incorporates Vestas V136-4.2MW wind turbines, which are reportedly the largest on the African continent to date.
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Eskom nears completion of rectification of major boiler defects

Eskom’s newest coal-fired power stations, Limpopo-based Medupi and Mpumalanga-based Kusile have suffered setbacks since their commissioning, some of which are yet to be finalised. Because Eskom ordered boilers of such a high capacity – at about 800 MW a unit – this meant that the power utility suffered from teething problems associated with plant and equipment deployed in few other places in the world. This meant Eskom had to work with the boiler manufacturers to understand the issues and work together to solve them.
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Eskom employees start returning to work amid speculation of a higher wage offer

As reports and speculation about Eskom’s new wage offer to unions were in full swing, the power utility confirmed that employees were returning to work at various stations and other operations on Wednesday morning. After a week of protest disruptions due to a wage negotiation deadlock, Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan announced on Tuesday afternoon that Eskom employees would return to work. While Gordhan said in his briefing that an agreement was reached on the wage settlement, details of the offer are still not public, and are expected to be formally tabled on Friday. 
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Stage 6 fiasco: Ratings downgrade may now be on the cards, economists warn

Stage 6 load shedding – the worst since 2019 – sparked by a wildcat strike at ailing power utility Eskom could stamp out the SA economy’s recent tentative green shoots, analysts have warned. Amid spiralling unemployment, high inflation and rocketing fuel prices, there have been small pockets of good news. Tuesday saw a marginal uptick in formal employment in the first quarter, while sovereign rating agencies have been looking at the country in a slightly more favourable light.
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Load-shedding escalated to Stage 6

Load-shedding will be escalated to Stage 6 on Tuesday from 16:00 to 22:00, Eskom has announced. Stage 4 Load-shedding will then be implemented from 22:00 to 00:00. Load-shedding will then be reduced to Stage 2 until 05:00 on Wednesday morning. From 05:00 until 16:00 on Wednesday, load-shedding will be implemented at Stage 4. Load-shedding Stage 6 will then again be implemented at 16:00 to 22:00 on Wednesday evening.
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Anglo investing in expansion of organic waste upcycling company Sanergy

Diversified mining multinational Anglo American is leading the latest investment round of organic waste upcycling business Sanergy, which has operations in Kenya. Sanergy’s solutions are helping to transform how fast-growing cities in the developing world manage waste by upcycling it into high-value agricultural and energy products, such as insect-based protein for animal feed, organic fertiliser for regenerative farming and biomass fuel for sustainable, localised power sources, Anglo American said in a statement on June 28.
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Three South African technologies pitch for Innovate UK funding

During a briefing by energy technology innovation and funding network Innovate UK for technology innovators and entrepreneurs on June 27, three South African technology companies presented their innovations for potential funding from the UK organisation. The three companies also served as examples of what characteristics Innovate UK requires to disburse funding to technology development companies, including commercial suitability and sustainability, positive social impact and environmental sustainability.
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Mitochondria Energy to build a fuel cell manufacturing facility in the Vaal SEZ in 2023

Hydrogen fuel cell developer Mitochondria Energy is planning to build a hydrogen fuel cell manufacturing facility in the Vaal Special Economic Zone (SEZ) forming part of the wider Hydrogen Valley development concept, with sod turning to start in 2023. In 2018, Mitochondria entered into a relationship with powertrain solutions developer AVL Engineering to develop Mitochondria’s own fuel cell – a project known as Project Phoenix.
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US to help fund study for deployment of small modular nuclear reactors in Romania

The administration of US President Joe Biden is to provide 50% of the funding for a Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) study for the deployment of a small modular nuclear reactor (SMR), designed by US company NuScale, in Romania. The US contribution will be disbursed through the US Trade and Development Agency, the amount involved being $14-million. The other $14-million needed to fund the FEED will be provided by NuScale and by its Romanian partner company, Nuclearelectrica. The two companies plan to erect a NuScale VOYGR-6 SMR nuclear power plant (NPP) on the site of a former thermal power plant at Doicești in Romania. The FEED study will include various engineering and design studies and activities. It will also include additional technical analyses of the site at Doicești.
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Eskom warns of high risk of Stage 6 load-shedding on Tuesday night amid ongoing strike

Power utility Eskom has warned that it may have to implement Stage 6 load-shedding from this evening, following a deterioration in its generation capacity overnight. COO Jan Oberholzer noted in a media briefing on Tuesday morning that there is a significant risk that the utility may have to implement Stage 6 load-shedding, although Eskom would do what it could to avoid that.
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