Niger, Emerging Energy Corp sign green hydrogen development agreement

The Republic of Niger signed an agreement with German energy solution provider Emerging Energy Corporation (EEC) to work together to explore and develop commercial green hydrogen projects in Niger. “Both parties will find opportunities to enable demand for the product and prepare Niger to become a hub for green hydrogen production in the region.
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AfDB commits $164m for decentralised renewable energy in six countries

Development finance institution the African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved the Leveraging Energy Access Finance (LEAF) framework, under which it will commit up to $164-million to promote decentralised renewable energy in six African countries. “The $800-million programme will help spur commercial and local currency investments to scale up the activities of decentralised renewable energy companies in Ghana, Guinea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and Tunisia.
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World atomic body reviewing plan to discharge treated Fukushima water into the sea  

A task force of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and other international experts visited Japan last week to gather information and collect water samples, in order to be able to draw up an independent review of Japan’s plan to discharge into the sea treated water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (NPP). This NPP was wrecked by a tsunami, triggered by a huge (magnitude 9.0) undersea earthquake, in 2011. While the plant’s six reactors all automatically shut down when their …
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Sasolburg electrolyser to be repurposed to produce green hydrogen within 24 months

Green-hydrogen aspirant Sasol has set aside R350-million to repurpose an operational electrolyser at Sasolburg, in the Free State, to produce green hydrogen. CEO Fleetwood Grobler tells Engineering News that the “proof-of-concept project” is likely to be fully operational within 18 to 24 months, producing up to five tonnes a day of green hydrogen and potentially green ammonia.
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Sasol signs LNG term sheet as it prepares for R20bn-plus coal-to-gas switch at Secunda

Energy and chemicals group Sasol has approved development funds for the first phase of a project that is designed to increase the Secunda complex’s ability to use gas instead of coal to produce fuel and chemicals. The fuel switch is central to Sasol’s initial commitment to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030, even though the company acknowledges that gas can only be used as a “transition fuel” if it is to meet its longer-term target of being net-zero by 2050.
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First Generation III+ nuclear reactors being built in US suffering further delays

US electricity utility Georgia Power has announced a further delay and a significant cost increase in its Vogtle nuclear power plant (NPP) expansion project. Vogtle (full name: Alvin W Vogtle Electric Generating site) is located at the town of Waynesboro, in the US State of Georgia. It has two operating nuclear reactors, known as Vogtle 1 and Vogtle 2. Georgia Power, part of the Southern Company group, is the biggest shareholder in the Vogtle expansion project. Georgia Power’s share is 45.7%, with two other power companies together having 52.7% and the Dalton City holding 1.6%. Two new AP1000 nuclear reactors are currently being built at Vogtle, unsurprisingly designated Vogtle 3 and Vogtle 4. These are the first Generation III+ reactors to be built in the US. Unlike other Generation III+ reactors, the AP1000, designed and developed by US company Westinghouse Nuclear, is partially modular in construction, with major modules constructed off-site and then assembled on-site.
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Ethiopia turns on the turbines at giant Nile hydropower plant

Ethiopia began producing electricity on Sunday from its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), a multibillion-dollar hydropower plant on the River Nile that neighbours Sudan and Egypt have worried will cause water shortages downstream. After flicking a digital switch to turn on the turbines in the first phase of the project, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sought to assure those nations that his country did not wish to harm their interests.
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Civil nuclear cooperation discussed in Brazil-Russia Presidential Summit

At their summit meeting in Moscow on Wednesday, one of the areas of discussion between the Presidents of Brazil and Russia, Jair Bolsonaro and Vladimir Putin respectively, was cooperation in the field of civil nuclear energy and technology. The one-on-one meeting between the two men reportedly lasted nearly two hours. According to the subsequently issued joint statement, both were determined to reinforce the “strategic partnership” between the two countries. “The Heads of State stressed the vast potential for the development of cooperation and new business initiatives in the field of energy, emphasising the two countries’ complementarity in [the] oil and gas industry, in ensuring energy efficiency and renewable energy,” affirmed the joint statement. “The Presidents expressed their intention to expand the dialogue on issues such as off-shore hydrocarbon production, the development of hydrogen and nuclear energy.”
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UK seeking feedback on small high temperature nuclear reactor programme

The UK government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is seeking feedback from the nuclear industry and other stakeholders on its proposed timescale and structure for a High Temperature Gas Reactor (HTGR) demonstration programme. BEIS had announced in December that HTGRs would be the focus of the country’s Advanced Modular Reactor (AMR) programme. “The aim of the programme is to demonstrate that HTGRs can produce high temperature heat which could be used for low-carbon hydrogen production, process heat for industrial and domestic use and cost-competitive electricity generation, in time for any potential commercial AMRs to support Net Zero by 2050,” stated BEIS. (South Africa’s effectively abandoned Pebble Bed Modular Reactor was an HTGR.)
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City of Cape Town says future IPP rounds will cater for wheeling, but not round one

The City of Cape Town has defended its decision not to accept bids for wheeled electricity as part of its first independent power producer (IPP) procurement round but says future tenders will cater for wheeling. The city aims to enter into 20-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) with multiple tenderers but stipulates that every component power generation plant “must connect directly to the city’s network and no wheeled energy from generators connected to grids other than the city’s grid will be purchased”.
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