South Africa has issued a request for information (RFI) to gauge the level of interest and readiness of industry to participate in Independent Transmission Projects (ITP) as it prepares to launch an ITP pilot tender in 2025. Described as a “sounding exercise”, the RFI has been unveiled jointly by the National Treasury and the Ministry of Electricity and Energy, and includes a deadline for responses of February 28.
State-owned power utility Eskom has welcomed the separate sentencing of two individuals for theft of cables near the Duvha power station, in Mpumalanga, and said it was committed to safeguarding the security and integrity of its critical infrastructure. The utility has welcomed the 15-year prison sentence handed down to one person for the March theft of copper cable from the Duvha power station’s coal conveyor belt, as well as the five-year prison sentence handed down to another for the theft of aluminium cables near the power station. The sentences were handed down in October.
State-owned electricity utility Eskom has provided some additional detail regarding the decision to continue operating 17 coal units across five power stations beyond their original decommissioning dates. The decision is in line with a May 23 determination by then Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy to allow Eskom to operate Hendrina, Grootvlei, Arnot, Camden and Kriel at existing minimum emission standards (MES) plant limits until March 31, 2030.
A newly released report by technology and lifecycle solutions provider Wärtsilä shows that an area the size of Europe will need to be covered with renewable power to reach a clean energy future without the integration of balancing power technologies. Wärtsilä’s global power system modelling, published in the ‘Crossroads to net zero’ report, compares two pathways from 2025 to 2050 with the aim of reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and limiting global warming in alignment with the Paris Agreement targets.
State-owned utility Eskom’s average energy availability factor (EAF) exceeded 60% for the seventh consecutive month in November. This milestone coincided with over 250 days without loadshedding and a significant reduction in open-cycle gas turbine (OCGT) use this year, industry organisation Minerals Council South Africa points out.
Zimbabwe’s industrial power users have secured $250-million from the African Export-Import Bank to build floating solar panels at the world’s largest man-made lake. The Intensive Energy User Group, made up of mining companies including a former local unit of Rio Tinto and Mimosa, plan a 250 MW plant at the Kariba Dam to be implemented in 18 months, according to a copy of its presentation seen by Bloomberg. That can be expanded to 1 GW of solar capacity.
While South Africa is starting to see the fruits of energy sector reforms, it still has a long way to go to fix the water, and transport and logistics sectors despite recent progress, says business organisation Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busi Mavuso. BLSA supported the National Logistics Crisis Committee (NLCC) in its efforts to develop the Freight Logistics Roadmap, with an important success being the establishment of the Transnet Rail Infrastructure Management company, with its own management and reporting structure separate from Transnet Freight Rail.
President Cyril Ramaphosa pointed out on Monday that strengthening local government is the Government of National Unity’s (GNU’s) key priority, noting disruptions in the supply of electricity and clean water in many districts. Ramaphosa wrote in his weekly letter to nation that many local councils are plagued by “poor governance, limited capacity and severe financial constraints”, all of which are affecting service delivery.
Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses the key themes that emerged during a briefing by Eskom and the National Transmission Company South Africa to lawmakers this week. The briefing focused on the Transmission Development Plan and its implementation, private sector participation in the grid and Eskom’s plans to remain a big contributor of electricity generation.
The Daures Green Hydrogen Village (DGHV) project, in the Erongo region of Namibia, has the potential to produce 5.6 GW of renewable energy comprising 5.1 GW solar and 427 MW wind power. Of this generated power, about 700 MW will be curtailed power, a further 70 MW of which will be fed into the national grid, says DGHV business development manager Dr Lutz-Heiner Otto.
INDUSTRY NEWS
WHERE TO FIND US
Address
9 Yellow Street
Botshabelo Industrial Area
Botshabelo, Free State
Call / Email Us
Tel: +27 (0) 51 534 1651
Email: info@transfix.co.za
