Private offtake market adds new impetus to black energy group’s pioneering IPP journey

The journey by South Africa’s Pele Energy Group (PEG) from fledgling energy investor to that of a pioneering black-owned and -managed independent power producer (IPP) is receiving fresh impetus from an unexpected source: the robust private-offtake market that has been stimulated by a recent reform allowing for distributed generation projects of any size to proceed without a licence. MD Gqi Raoleka reports that the company has steadily expanded its portfolio from 800 MW in 2016 – when Engineering News ran a feature on how the five young black professionals who founded PEG had aspirations to become a fully-fledged IPP – to approximately 2 000 MW currently.
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Construction starts on Atlantis SEZ for green technologies

Construction on Zone 1 of the Atlantis Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for green technologies in the Western Cape has started. The first tenant in the 22 ha Zone 1 will be industrial and specialist gas supplier Iconic Gases, with work on the company’s factory set to start in November, says Atlantis SEZ CEO Matt Cullinan.
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Private sector technical teams begin work at four troubled coal stations

Private sector support teams, assembled with the support of the R100-million Resource Mobilization Fund (RMF), have been deployed across four troubled coal-fired power stations to assist Eskom with its Generation Recovery Plan. Electricity Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa reports that the teams officially began their work at Matla, Kriel, Majuba and Kendal on June 5, with specific targets having been set for the recovery of each plant’s energy availability factor (EAF).
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Scatec replants local quiver trees at Kenhardt site

Renewable energy company Scatec has undertaken a massive quiver tree planting and replanting operation at its Kenhardt site, in the Northern Cape. The replanting started after the company was awarded the solar project under the Renewable Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme.  The site is currently under construction and, once it reaches completion, will have a total solar capacity of 540 MW, battery storage capacity of 225 MW or 1 140 MWh, and provide 150 MW of dispatchable renewable power under a 20-year power purchase agreement.
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Ramokgopa describes five-year emergency powership term as ‘non-negotiable’

Electricity Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has reiterated his position that any procurement of electricity from powerships should be limited to a maximum of five years, describing such a term as “non-negotiable”, while also warning that imposing such a restriction could result in higher tariffs. He is far less unequivocal, however, about how such electricity might be procured, indicating that it could be the outcome of direct negotiations with Karpowership, which remains a preferred bidder for projects with a combined capacity of 1 200 MW under the much-delayed Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP), or an entirely new emergency procurement process.
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Gravity energy storage systems an option at South Africa’s coal power stations

Consultancy Sizana Solutions says gravity energy storage systems (GESS) fit in “beautifully” with South Africa’s just energy transition, as it can create multiple thousands of jobs while constructing energy storage assets and drive environmental restoration, especially at soon-to-be decommissioned coal-fired power stations.

Sizana, the appointed consultant of NYSE-listed Energy Vault in Southern Africa, affirms that there are multiple viable opportunities for GESS in the country, particularly as it offers a lower life cycle cost compared with most other energy storage mediums owing to to its long life and no degradation.

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‘We are not involved’: Absa says it won’t be funding Karpowership

Absa Group has settled on a final position not to fund the controversial Karpowership projects in South Africa, it confirmed on Friday. Speaking at the banking group’s annual general meeting on Friday, chairperson Sello Moloko cut short a question posed by an activist organisation to confirm that Absa would not be funding the Turkish company’s emergency gas-to-power projects.
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Karpowership, distributed generation and grid investment updates

Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses the latest updates on the actions South Africa is taking to address the electricity crisis, including positive developments on the distributed generation and trasnmission grid investment fronts, but with the immediate prognosis in terms of loadshedding remaining bleak. The country also faces the risk of making potentially extremely costly decisions as it considers options for the procurement of electricity to be generated by Karpowership.  
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TCO contracts reduce costs, boost efficiency

The latest National Energy Regulator of South Africa- (Nersa-) approved price increase of 18.55% means that the cost of electricity is now 63.08% more expensive than in April 2019, says motor and controls manufacturer Zest WEG strategic sales manager Herman Lues. He explains that since the energy crisis first started in 2008, there has been a “definite inflection point for electricity tariffs in South Africa, as from 2007 to 2022, electricity tariffs have increased by 653%”.
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Manufacturer innovates for energy, growing industries

The ongoing energy supply crisis in South Africa has put the spotlight on the importance of reliable and efficient renewable-energy systems, and the role of the mechanical seal industry in supporting this need, states mechanical seals technology provider AESSEAL marketing manager Jana Britz. As the demand for more sustainable and efficient solutions continues to increase in the energy sector in South Africa, the mechanical seal industry will play a vital role in supporting this transition, Britz stresses.
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