Vergelegen winery goes off grid

The Vergelegen wine estate, in Somerset West, has installed a solar power plant that has taken it completely off the grid. The plant includes six solar tables, comprising 500 panels that cover 1 400 m², three inverters and a 1 MWh battery. This will ensure the cellar can run on the battery during harvesting, even if there is no sun, the company says.
/by

Necsa wants to get involved with small modular reactors

The South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) has formally requested Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe to change its mandate, to allow it to become involved in the generation of electricity from nuclear energy. So Necsa CEO Loyiso Tyabashe has told Engineering News in an exclusive interview. Currently, only the State-owned national electricity utility Eskom is permitted to operate nuclear power plants (NPPs). The country has only one NPP, at Koeberg, north of Cape Town. Under South Africa’s current Integrated Resources Plan (IRP), the country is seeking to create 2 500 MW of new nuclear power generating capacity (although no nuclear capacity would come on stream for at least ten years after authorisation was granted). Necsa would like some of that allocation to be assigned to it.
/by

Gordhan criticises Eskom’s ‘elongated’ restructuring timelines, wants grid company to …

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has criticised Eskom’s “elongated” restructuring timeframes and has called for greater urgency and drive from the utility in completing the remaining processes required to enable the independent grid company to begin trading. Eskom has indicated that the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA), the first of three subsidiaries under the yet-to-be-formed Eskom Holdings scheduled to be operationalised, will begin trading from the start of its new financial year on April 1.
/by

DRC still has difficulty securing investments in Inga power project – Tshisekedi

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) still has difficulty securing investments for its Inga power project, the president said on Tuesday in New York, adding that the World Bank and China are interested. The multibillion-dollar project, which will harness the power of the Congo River, has been repeatedly delayed by red tape and disagreements between Congo and its partners.
/by