South Africa rejects nonprofit’s charge in win for Karpowership

South Africa’s environment ministry dismissed a complaint by a nonprofit against Karpowership’s plan to moor a ship-mounted power plant off the nation’s west coast, a rare win for the Turkish company. The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, in a letter to The Green Connection dated April 26, rejected the nonprofit’s allegations that Karpowership’s consultants misrepresented small-scale fishers. The department will go ahead and review the company’s proposal to set up a 320 MW plant in Saldanha port, according to the letter provided by the consultants.
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Mantashe: Govt’s plans to end loadshedding not about ‘mobilising votes’

Dealing with loadshedding is not about “mobilising votes”, according to Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe. The minister was answering questions from members of Parliament’s National Council of Provinces on Tuesday. Democratic Alliance MP Mlindi Nhanha had asked about the progress made on government’s Energy Action Plan. South Africa has only had two days this year without loadshedding, while up to 29 days of Stage 6 have been implemented thus far.
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Microgrid centre of excellence established at CSIR

A Microgrid Centre of Excellence (CoE) has been launched at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in partnership with Power Africa, a US government-led initiative coordinated by the United States Agency for International Development. The centre will support local utilities with microgrid implementation projects as an alternative way of achieving universal access to electricity.
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Concor to add 5.74 MW of solar to Eastgate shopping centre upper parking

Construction contractor Concor is working on a project to build a 5.74 MW solar photovoltaic power plant in the Eastgate shopping centre’s upper parking area, adding to the centre’s existing 1 MW solar plant. This project aligns with JSE-listed real estate investment trust Liberty 2 Degrees’ execution of its 2030 net-zero targets, which includes reducing energy reliance on the grid, and a focus on creating good and smart spaces.
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SAWEA says nearly 1 000 MW of private wind projects now registered with Nersa

Wind projects with a combined capacity of 984 MW have been registered with the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa), a development that the South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) sees as representing a shift from the single buyer model that has hitherto underpinned renewables investment to a more open arrangement. The change, SAWEA says, has been brought about by the removal of the licensing requirement for private generation plants that are proceeding on the basis of bilateral power purchase agreements with private off-takers.
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South African government committed to developing the hydrogen economy – Minister

Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister Dr Blade Nzimande has highlighted the country’s determination to develop a hydrogen economy, for a low carbon-emissions future. He did so at the recent meeting of the International Partnership for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells in the Economy (IPHE) steering committee, in Pretoria. The IPHE is an intergovernmental organisation with 22 members, which share information to encourage research and development into hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, and their actual deployment, around the world. South Africa currently chairs the steering committee.
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