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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Climate commission calls for revised IRP to upscale renewables allocation to 60 GW by 2030

The Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) is recommending that the next edition of the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), which is currently under review, cater for the building of between 50 GW and 60 GW of variable renewable energy by 2030, supported by co-located storage of between 3 GW and 5 GW, as well as gas peaking support. It adds, too, that if anchored on a least-cost approach, South Africa should not build any new coal or new nuclear capacity, while also noting that renewables coupled with storage represents the only realistic technology options for resolving loadshedding in two to four years, given the long lead times involved for either coal (10 to 12 years) or nuclear (12 to 15 years).
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Solar PV, wind to lead the largest increase in new renewable capacity a year ever – IEA

Renewable power is on course to shatter more records, as countries around the world speed up deployment. With the global energy crisis as a catalyst, solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind are set to lead the largest yearly increase in new renewable capacity ever, the International Energy Agency’s (IEA’s) ‘Renewable Energy Market Update’ report shows. Global additions of renewable power capacity are expected to jump by one-third this year as growing policy momentum, higher fossil fuel prices and energy security concerns drive strong deployment of solar PV and wind power.
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Ramokgopa says 2GW of powership capacity to be procured for five years

Electricity Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa confirmed with lawmakers this week that government intends pushing ahead with the procurement of electricity from powerships, amid ongoing environmental opposition to the floating gas-to-power plants and significant concerns over the cost implications and the term of the contracts.  “We are, as the Ministry, now going to commence with an emergency procurement programme based on powership solutions to give us an additional 2 000 MW and this amounts to two stages of loadshedding,” Ramokgopa said in a speech delivered as part of the debate on the Presidency’s Budget Vote.
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10 GW distributed generation pipeline to help close shortfall in time – Ramaphosa

While warning of a difficult winter for electricity security, President Cyril Ramaphosa has again moved to highlight the success of a recent market reform that has enabled private distributed generation projects of any size to proceed without having to undertake an onerous licensing process. Addressing lawmakers during his Budget Vote, Ramaphosa said that the amendment to Schedule 2 of the Electricity Regulation Act, which initially removed the licensing requirement for projects below 100 MW and was later adjusted to remove the threshold altogether, had stimulated significant investment activity.
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Mining industry has critical role in closing energy supply gap – Mantashe

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe is convinced that mining companies can supplement State-owned Eskom’s supply of electricity, and that this would be critical for narrowing the electricity supply and demand gap, thereby improving South Africa’s mining industry global ranking, which was in the bottom quartile on both investment attractiveness and policy perception indexes by research organisation Fraser Institute’s 2022 survey of mining companies. “A success story is registered in the performance of Gold Fields, which registered a 10% production growth despite the 9% decline year-on-year in the sectors’ overall production. This is because they completed their 50 MW plant, which is giving them enough energy and registered some surplus. Therefore, the industry’s investment in expanding its own electricity capacity to power its operations gives us hope,” Mantashe said at the Minerals Council South Africa’s 133rd annual general meeting, in Johannesburg, on May 31.
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