SAPVIA launches solar PV data portal for members

The South African Photovoltaic Industry Association (SAPVIA) has launched a new data portal that gives its members access to periodic data about solar installations across the country. The project, in collaboration with GEOTERRAIMAGE (GTI), was launched this week. 
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Eskom to extend deadline for decommissioning stations

State-owned entity Eskom is undertaking a just energy transition strategy and pursuing repurposing and repowering of some of its coal-fired power stations separate to decommissioning them. This will see the company extend the deadline for the decommissioning of some coal-fired power stations, while loadshedding could potentially also worsen as it undertakes necessary maintenance during the summer months. This was indicated by Eskom Just Energy Transition GM Dr Vikesh Rajpaul on October 5, delivering one of the keynotes during the second day of the Joburg Indaba.
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Government taking too long to wrap up power projects – Ramokgopa

Electricity Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says he “laments” the time it takes for government to go from issuing requests for proposals (RFPs) to announcing preferred bidder status and reaching financial close when it comes to renewable energy power projects. “Our going out for RFPs and preferred bidder status is really the domain of the State, and the State takes an inordinate amount of time.”
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Many wind turbine components can be recycled

An issue regarding wind farms that will have to be addressed is how to handle their inevitable decommissioning issues, including what to do with wind turbines (towers, machinery and blades) that have reached the end of their lives. This was the subject of a panel discussion on Thursday at the Windaba 2023 conference, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. Dorper Wind Farm CEO and GM Mamoso May affirmed that educating people about what would happen at the end of a wind farm’s life should start now. And that education had to be across the wider South African society, not just in the communities adjacent to wind farms.
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Pace of energy transition will define South Africa’s economic prospects – Olver

Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) executive director Dr Crispian Olver says South Africa’s energy transition and the pace at which it progresses will determine the country’s long-term economic and human-development prospects and should, thus, no longer be treated only as an environmental problem. Speaking at the Joburg Indaba, Olver acknowledged that stakeholders were “not of one mind” regarding the pace of the transition, despite broad-based agreement that South Africa needed to reduce its emissions, which are strongly associated with the continued dominance of coal in domestic energy production.
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Swiss team to attempt record high-altitude drive with solar truck

In an attempt to set a new world record for driving a wheeled vehicle to the highest altitude possible, a team of three men from Switzerland are preparing to reach the summit of the Ojos Del Salado volcano, in the barren Atacama region of Chile using an electric, solar-powered special purpose truck.

Reaching high elevations using a vehicle with a conventional internal combustion engine is challenging because of the low volumes of oxygen present at high altitudes, thereby presenting problems in the form of increasingly degraded engine power as altitudes increase.

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