Gas a viable decarbonisation source

Decarbonisation can be implemented by the introduction of gas as a replacement of fossil fuels such as coal and diesel, says strategic research and advisory company Birguid senior associate Patience Panashe Panashe tells Engineering News that the benefits asserted from the use of liquified natural gas (LNG) includes its inexpensive features, as well as its efficiency and safety for the environment. 
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Company receives funding for decarbonisation tech

Global New York Stock Exchange-listed industrial company General Electric (GE Gas Power) announced it has secured $4.2-million in federal funding from the US. The funding is part of the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) OPEN 2021 programme, which prioritises the advancement of transformational technologies supporting a more decarbonized energy system.
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ssLNG plants available locally

Designers and suppliers of liquified natural gas (LNG) equipment PolaireTech’s modularised small-scale plants for the liquefaction of natural gas to produce LNG are now available in South Africa.   Commercial deployment of small-scale LNG (ssLNG) plants is driven by the need for cheaper alternatives as compared to crude oil derived fuels. The use of LNG as a replacement fuel presents an opportunity for ssLNG plants.
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Cabinet approves Just Transition Framework for implementation

Cabinet has approved the Just Transition Framework, which was published by the Presidential Climate Commission in July following extensive consultation, for implementation and has indicated that a detailed implementation plan will be developed for integration into government planning and budgeting. The framework includes an estimate that South Africa will require at least $250-billion over the next three decades to transform its energy system and at least $10-billion to support workers and communities with compensation, retraining, relocation, and rehabilitation of regions and communities.
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Umoja Incubator programme calls for submissions for renewable energy projects

The recently launched Umoja Incubator programme on renewable energy held a roadshow in Cape Town on August 31, to share information about the programme and encourage local renewable energy project developers to apply. This forms part of a series of roadshows held across the continent. Serengeti Energy Operations communications and events manager Austin Ouma told Engineering News that, since the launch of the programme in June, roadshows have also been held in, for example, Kigali, Rwanda and Côte d’Ivoire.
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Rich nations to fund 80% of South Africa’s climate plan with loans, some hard to unlock

About 80% of the-billions of dollars pledged by rich nations for South Africa’s shift away from coal will be loans, not grants, and some may be hard to unlock due to national rules protecting domestic jobs, an official familiar with the matter said. Last year the United States, European Union, Britain, France and Germany committed to investing $8.5-billion over three to five years to help South Africa reduce its carbon emissions, which are among the world’s highest because it depends on coal for 80% of its electricity.
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Italy’s CDP extends debut €100m loan to AFC

The Italian development finance institution Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) has agreed a debut €100-million loan for African infrastructure solutions provider Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), to facilitate investments in renewable power, energy efficient projects and climate-resilient infrastructure. CDP is providing the bilateral loan to support AFC projects that it says are urgently needed to transform African infrastructure to help combat and adapt to global warming, as well as catalyse industrialisation, create jobs and reduce poverty.
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M&R expects renewables projects to breathe life into struggling South African unit

Engineering and contracting group Murray & Roberts (M&R) says its Southern African-focused business platform, which has shrunk materially and has been lossmaking for a number of years, is at the point of a “breakthrough”, underpinned by South African renewables and transmission activities that are starting to gain momentum. Known as the power, industrial and water platform, the unit is the smallest of the JSE-listed group’s three platforms by far and is also the only one leveraged entirely to project activity in M&R’s home market of South Africa and to the Southern African region.
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Scatec signs PPA with Botswana Power for a 50 MW solar PV facility

Renewable energy solutions provider Scatec and the Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) have signed a binding 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) for the construction of a solar photovoltaic (PV) facility with a contracted capacity of 50 MW at Selebi Phikwe. Scatec owns 100% of the project and will be the designated engineering, procurement and construction company (EPC), asset manager and operations and maintenance contractor.
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Kenyan, Japanese groups sign agreement to cooperate in developing geothermal power

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the predominantly (70%) State-owned Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen) and Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation (Toshiba ESS) of Japan, as a precursor to the creation of a partnership between the two groups in the area of geothermal power. The intent is to combine the expertise of the two companies and provide operation and maintenance services for geothermal power plants in developing countries, initially in East Africa. “Geothermal energy provides sustainable power supply,” highlighted KenGen MD and CEO Rebecca Miano. “It is a resource we have in abundance in Kenya, an advantage that has enabled us to build a considerable wealth of expertise in its exploration and development. This we have done for more than 50 years.”
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