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.
The Drakenstein municipality, in the Western Cape, has adopted Schneider Electric’s green RM AirSeT switchgear, which it says will reduce the municipality’s carbon footprint by using pure air instead of SF6 gas. The project alleviates the harmful greenhouse gas emissions produced by SF6 gas (sulphur hexafluoride) found in traditional gas-insulated switchgear, which is 23 500 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
Eskom expects the remaining suspensive conditions required for the operationalisation of the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA) to be met by the end of its current financial year and for the entity to commence trading from the start of the new financial year, which begins on April 1. Commenting on the decision of the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) to approved, on September 14, the two additional licence applications required for the independent operation of the NTCSA, Eskom said the approvals marked “a significant milestone in the legal separation process of the Transmission Division”.
Around R300-million is spent annually on salaries for staff and maintenance at the Rooiwal and Pretoria West power stations, which have not been operational for more than a decade. On Monday, Tshwane Mayor Cilliers Brink addressed the media on the City’s plan to procure and generate at least 1 000 megawatts of power independent of the state-run power producer, Eskom.
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has approved the two licence applications required for the operationalisation of the National Transmission Company of South Africa (NTCSA), which is in the process of being established as an independent unbundled division of Eskom Holdings. The approvals of the trading, as well as the import and export licences were made by the Energy Regulator, Nersa’s highest decision-making body, at a special meeting held on September 14.
Eskom has confirmed that problems in the diesel supply chain last week meant that it did not operate its open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs) as “hard” as it would have done normally in a context where the utility was resorting to Stage 6 loadshedding. Head of generation Bheki Nxumalo did not offer any details on the nature of the supply-chain problems during a weekly update on the Energy Action Plan.
Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses the various grid-related funding proposals and delivery mechanisms being considered by South Africa and what this could mean for adding much-needed electricity supply.
JSE-listed real estate investment trust Growthpoint Properties South Africa has become the first party in South Africa to wheel renewable electricity through Cape Town’s energy grid, in collaboration with electricity trading company Etana Energy.
Wheeling involves electricity being bought and sold between private parties and being transported from where it is generated to end-users over long distances.
South Africa quadrupled its solar panel imports from China in the first half of 2023 to 3.4GW – which, at peak production, amounts to nearly the generation capacity of Eskom’s Duvha or Matla power stations. Duvha and Matla have an installed capacity of 3.6GW each.
Cabinet has been given the assurance that the current higher stages of loadshedding are temporary. This is according to Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, who said Cabinet had extensive meetings focusing on the country’s energy crisis.
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