Cape Town was really taking the lead in the green energy transition, affirmed the city’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth, Alderman James Vos, on Tuesday. He was opening the Western Cape trade, tourism and investment promotion agency Wesgro’s Green Hub pavilion at the Enlit Africa 2024 exhibition, in the Cape Town International Convention Centre. He highlighted that the city had a R4-billion budget, over the next three years, to upgrade and maintain its electricity grid, to enable the green energy transition. One of the priorities of this programme was to ensure grid stability, for, without grid stability, green electricity was going to go nowhere.
On day 55 of no loadshedding in South Africa, newly appointed Eskom boss Dan Marokane warns that the country is “not of out the woods yet, but we have visible progress towards where we want to be, and we should acknowledge that”. Speaking at Enlit Africa 2024 held in Cape Town on Tuesday – on day 82 in the hot seat – Marokane said a debate anchored around suspicions on whether the improvement in electricity availability might be linked to the next week’s general elections was of little help.
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has invited comment on Eskom’s application to preserve and reserve grid connection capacity for independent power producers (IPPs) participating in public procurement processes implemented in line with Section 34 of the Electricity Regulation Act (ERA). In its application, Eskom indicates that it is seeking permission to discriminate in favour of public procurement IPP projects, at the expense of private IPP projects.
The Eskom board has given its approval for the continued operation of the Camden, Grootvlei and Hendrina power stations to 2030 – a departure from the original decommissioning schedule that has reportedly been endorsed by Cabinet. In response to a question posed by Engineering News during an update on the Energy Action Plan, head of generation Bheki Nxumalo said: “We have just recently received board approval to run three of our stations – that is Hendrina, Grootvlei and Camden – up until 2030.”
Newly formed electricity trader Apollo Africa reports that it is experiencing strong demand from potential customers for the renewable electricity that will be produced from the grid-ready 210 MW Hendrina Wind Farm, being developed by Enertrag in the Mpumalanga province. Apollo Africa, which is majority-owned by JSE-listed Reunert and is in the final stages of securing a trading licence from the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, has entered into an exclusive agreement with Enertrag for the electricity that will be produced at the facility.
Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses the significance of the National Council of Provinces’ (NCOP’s) vote to pass the Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill; if the Bill is likely to face any opposition; and what further actions can be expected once the Bill becomes law.
A new International Energy Agency (IEA) report describes the sharp decline in critical mineral prices over the past year as a double-edged sword, cautioning that, while it has been a boon for clean energy deployment and affordability, it is a bane for critical mineral investment and diversification. The ‘Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2024’ highlights that, following two years of dramatic increases, the prices of critical minerals fell steeply in 2023, returning to levels last seen before the pandemic.
Flow control solutions developer Valmet announced in April that it would deliver a major boiler rebuild to the Steven’s Croft biomass power station in Lockerbie, Scotland in the UK, which is operated by energy infrastructure operator E.ON. The order is included in Valmet’s orders received in the first quarter 2024, and the rebuild will secure “trouble-free operation of the boiler for years to come”.
The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) has approved the Electricity Regulation Amendment (ERA) Bill, which has far-reaching implications for the future structure and operation of an electricity supply industry that has hitherto been dominated by Eskom. The Bill received support from all provinces besides the Free State, which lacked a mandate to vote, and the Western Cape, which argued that there had been insufficient time for provinces to consult their residents on the contents of the Bill.
In this article, Stellenbosch University PhD student and Centre for Sustainability Transitions junior researcher Alboricah Rathupetsane writes about the impact of extreme weather events on South Africa’s infrastructure and the need for increased investment in infrastructure development, as well as to incorporate climate resilience in infrastructure.
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