New joint report points way to 11 000 GW of global renewable energy capacity

The COP28 presidency, the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) and the Global Renewables Alliance (GRA) have launched a joint report on the sidelines of the Pre-COP event in Abu Dhabi, titled ‘Tripling Renewable Power and Doubling Energy Efficiency by 2030: Crucial Steps Towards 1.5 °C’. The report, launched on October 30, provides actionable policy recommendations for governments and the private sector on how to increase global renewable energy capacity to at least 11 000 GW while also doubling yearly average energy efficiency improvements in the target period. This falls under the COP28 Presidency’s action agenda objective of fast-tracking a just and orderly energy transition to keep 1.5 °C within reach.
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South Africa’s energy transition gathers pace

Speakers across a range of disciplines and domains have said that South Africa’s electricity market is transitioning to a more pluralistic market that will also include a much larger range of services to support generation, transmission, aggregation, grid balancing, energy trading, day-ahead and intra-day markets, besides others. During consulting firm EE Business Intelligence’s ‘Electricity market development: The transition to a multi-market model’ webinar, on October 26, University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business Power Futures Lab chairperson Professor Anton Eberhard said South Africa’s electricity industry would never be the same again.
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Wind turbine consignment arrives at Saldanha Multi-Purpose Terminal

The Saldanha Multi-Purpose Terminal (MPT), managed by Transnet Port Terminals, is playing a strategic role in discharging imported wind turbine components that will go towards building 32 wind turbines in the Western Cape. Earlier this week, the terminal completed discharging the first consignment of wind turbine components as part projects selected as part of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) .
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Karpowership receives long-awaited enviro approval for Richards Bay powership

Following much contestation from environmental groups, Turkish energy company Karpowership’s South African subsidiary has succeeded in getting environmental authorisation for its Richards Bay environmental-impact assessment (EIA) application. This represents a critical milestone in Karpowership’s participation in the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP) and towards reaching financial close on the project.
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Luminous Power Technologies, Hudaco partner to bring branded energy solutions to South Africa

India-based energy solutions brand Luminous Power Technologies and South Africa’s Hudaco Energy have teamed up to bring to a new range of applicable energy solutions to South Africa. With ambitions of securing a 25% share in the power back up market over the next three years, the new partnership will enable access to affordable and sustainable fit-for-purpose energy solutions, including inverters, batteries and solar solutions, as well as the newly-developed Lithium battery pack (LitCore), which will be introduced into the South Africa market in the first quarter of next year.
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Inside the Energy One Stop Shop and its drive to fast-track electricity projects

The Energy One Stop Shop (EOSS), officially launched by Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel on July 27, is in the ramp-up phase of a four-stage process aimed at fast-tracking the regulatory approvals required for new self-generation projects and projects that will be connected to the local power grid.   The creation of the EOSS is an acknowledgement by government that the red tape around energy projects is onerous, particularly as applications need to be submitted to as many as 14 different government departments, says EOSS chief director Lester Bouah.
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Projects driven by regulatory improvements

Embedded electricity projects are increasing in size and complexity, owing to improvements in regulations. A wider variety of power solutions, capitalising on the benefits offered by independent power producers (IPPs), are available to address client requirements, says IPP Sturdee Energy executive director Andrew Johnson. He explains that the increase of the licence-exempt threshold for embedded generation in South Africa has led to larger on-site projects being a more viable option benefitting from economies of scale. Larger embedded projects within the 5 MW to 50 MW range which exist together with the option of wheeling are now a feasible option for customers. 
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Miner focuses on improving energy capacity, sustainability

Gold producer Gold Fields plans to increase its embedded electricity generation capacity through wind energy at its South Deep operation in Gauteng.  Further, the company is in talks with State-owned power utility Eskom to feed surplus electricity into the grid, says Gold Fields executive VP Benford Mokoatle.
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Serco rolls out solar at Gauteng facility, Cape Town to follow at year-end

Truck and trailer body-building company Serco is now fully powered by solar energy at its Boksburg facility in Gauteng. The installation consists of a 150 kW hybrid solar system with 370 x 405 W panels, plus high-voltage inverters coupled with 320 kW of batteries.
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EU must step up action in clean tech race, say industry groups

Europe’s green technology industries and materials suppliers urged European Union leaders meeting for a summit on Thursday to do more to prevent the bloc dropping out of the global clean tech race against competitors China and the US. The European Union is expected to pass legislation setting targets for EU-based companies to make at least 40% of the EU’s annual deployment needs of solar, wind and other net-zero technologies by 2030.
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