Police have opened two cases of intimidation related to Eskom protests

Police say they have opened two cases of intimidation related to the unlawful strikes at Eskom, which the power utility has blamed for Stage 6 load-shedding.  “One was registered at Belfast Police Station while the other was registered at Hendrina Police Station. Both matters are still under investigation,” said police spokesperson Colonel Athlenda Mathe.
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Construction of Egypt’s first nuclear power plant can now start

Construction of the first unit (that is, reactor) of Egypt’s El Dabaa nuclear power plant (NPP) has been licenced by the Egyptian Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority (ENRRA), World Nuclear News has reported. The permit was issued to the country’s Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA). Construction of the first of the four planned reactors at the NPP, which will be only the second to be built on the African continent (after South Africa’s Koeberg NPP), can now begin. “[W]e were granted the permit to build the first unit of the first Egyptian nuclear power plant,” highlighted NPPA board chairperson Amged El-Wakeel. “Today, we etched in gold Egypt joining the ranks of countries building [NPPs] after over 70 years waiting for this dream to come true.”
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Renewable power costs rise, just not as much as fossil fuels

It’s costing more these days to build and run solar farms and wind turbines, but they’re still cheaper than power plants that rely on fossil fuels. The costs of renewable plants are rising after years of declines due to soaring prices for materials, shipping and labour, according to a BloombergNEF report. But costs for coal and natural gas-fired plants are increasing even faster as global energy prices surge following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As a result, new onshore wind and solar projects cost roughly 40% less than coal or gas plants built from scratch—and the gap is widening.
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Report indicates growth in global market

Research company ResearchAndMarkets’ 2022 report shows that the global battery energy storage system (BESS) market is expected to grow from $4.4-billion in 2022 to $15.1-billion by 2027, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.9%. The growth of this market is mainly driven by the increasing demand for grid energy storage systems owing to ongoing grid modernisation, growing penetration of lithium-ion batteries in the renewable energy sector, and the rising trend of low-carbon and less fossil fuel-based economies and the ongoing renewable energy revolution.
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Best practices for small businesses

Experienced engineers are crucial in such a critical and technically-minded sector as engineering, and it is consequently not surprising that the industry players place a premium on the employment of those who have the years under their belts, says engineering firm Zimile Consulting Engineers CEO Shawn Gama.
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Batteries and decentralised power seen as key way to boost security of supply

Industry body the South African Energy Storage Association chairperson Mikhail Nikomarov emphasises the importance of a decentralised power system and the benefits it can provide, and how this can be supported using battery energy storage systems (BESS) in the local market. “Energy storage through batteries doesn’t have to be centralised like other forms of storage such as pumped storage hydropower.”
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Manufacturer now offers new stainless steel braided hose

Earlier this year, industrial hose specialist Truco announced it had started manufacturing stainless steel braided hose at its Chamdor campus in Johannesburg, Gauteng. Initial capabilities are for hose assemblies from 6 mm to 25 cm in diameter.
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Company to triple battery, solar energy storage electronics capacity

Energy technology company General Electric (GE) is tripling manufacturing capacity for its solar and battery energy storage power electronics systems by the end of this year to 9 GW/y, linked to strong growth in backlogs over the past few months and a robust demand outlook. The systems are manufactured at GE’s newly launched Renewable Hybrids factory in Vallam, near Chennai, India.
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Cesa challenges Sanral’s decision to cancel tender

Industry body Consulting Engineers South Africa (Cesa) is challenging the decision by the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) board to cancel critical infrastructure tenders worth R17.5-billion on the basis that the adjudication process was flawed owing to the involvement of design engineers in the tender adjudication process.
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Consulting engineering sector faces skills depletion

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to increased retrenchments and job losses in the consulting engineering industry, which, in turn, has led to a skills drain in the sector, temporary works consultant Waco Engineering Services MD Otto Botha says.
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