Through its Smart Farming initiative, power transmission and motion control products distributor BMG offers solutions that are aimed at conserving power, enhancing operational efficiency and minimising downtime through effective maintenance strategies. As farming operations face increasing pressures from rising electricity and water costs, as well as power supply constraints, the initiative, also referred to as the ‘Boer Slim’ initiative, focuses on sustainable practices that improve crop production output while addressing broader concerns such as labour, capital investment and resource management.
Amid increasing concerns over rising electricity costs and a growing demand for sustainable energy, vertically integrated sustainable technology group Rubicon’s Apex SGS solar geyser system offers an innovative and smart approach to energy efficiency in water heating. Designed and manufactured locally, the system prioritises the use of solar energy, consequently reducing reliance on grid electricity and supporting South Africa’s transition towards greener energy solutions, Apex national sales head Ruan Smith tells Engineering News.
No one entity has the resources, funding or execution capability to address South Africa’s multitrillion-rand energy investment needs, a new PWC report argues, while calling for collaboration between the public and private sectors to address the challenge. The ‘Africa Energy Review 2024’ report follows government’s release of the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, which highlighted the need to scale up private-sector participation in the delivery of public infrastructure, including energy infrastructure.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Thursday urged State power utility Eskom to withdraw its “futile and costly” legal dispute and support the transformation of South Africa’s energy sector. Eskom has approached the High Court to review the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (Nersa’s) decision to grant four trading licences in what it describes as its area of supply.
South Africa pledged to slash emissions across its fleet of coal-fired power plants in a bid to secure $2.6-billion in climate finance. That’s despite seeking to alter the terms of a 2022 agreement by delaying the outright closure of three of the facilities. The plan, which involves the reduction of emissions at a number of units at the 14 plants operated by the state utility Eskom, was submitted to the World Bank affiliated Climate Investment Funds on Wednesday, South Africa’s presidency said in a response to queries. The country has now said it will close the Grootvlei, Hendrina and Camden plants at a later stage after initially agreeing to begin shutting them down from as early as next year.
In another surprise move, Eskom has taken the seemingly regressive step of approaching the High Court for a review of the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (Nersa’s) decision to grant four trading licenses in what it describes as its area of supply. In a statement released a day after the Energy Regulator, Nersa’s top decision-making structure, approved trading licences in favour of CBI Electric Apollo, Discovery Green, Green Electron Market and GreenCo Power Services, Eskom reiterated objections first raised during public hearings on July 18.
Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses the key themes of the first Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement of the Government of National Unity, delivered by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, including specific moves to unlock private sector participation to build new transmission infrastructure.
The first phase of Operation Vulindlela, which was set up jointly by the Presidency and the National Treasury to oversee structural economic reforms, unlocked R390-billion worth of investment in the electricity sector. The investment figure is included in the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement released on Wednesday by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, who indicated the second phase would seek to build on previous efforts.
The National Transmission Company of South Africa (NTCSA) has hosted its inaugural Transmission Development Plan (TDP) briefing since starting commercial operation in July this year, with the 2024 TDP reporting higher required transmission capacity installations compared with the prior TDP, in line with expected generation capacity increases.
NTCSA interim CEO Segomoco Scheppers says the prior TDP projected that 53 GW of new generation capacity would be online by 2032, with nearly 39 GW of the capacity coming from renewable energy. That would have required 4 200 km of high-voltage transmission lines and 170 transformers providing 105 000 MVA of capacity.
Based on the current policy environment, the global market for clean energy technologies is set to rise from $700-billion in 2023 to more than $2-trillion by 2035, close to the value of the current global crude oil market, a new International Energy Association (IEA) report shows. The latest edition of the IEA’s ‘Energy Technology Perspectives 2024’ (ETP-2024) report, which was published on October 30, states that trade in clean technologies is also expected to rise sharply. Within a decade from now, it will more than triple to reach $570-billion, more than 50% larger than current natural gas global trade figures.
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