Author Archive for: Engineering News

Regulator-licensed South African electricity trader Enpower Trading is promoting wheeling and trading over municipal networks as a way of combatting the trend of “off-grid flight”, which poses a threat to electricity income that can contribute more than half of a municipality’s overall revenues. There is a growing demand from independent power producers (IPPs) and traders to transport, or wheel, electricity across both Eskom and municipal networks and such demand is expected to grow in light of reforms that could result in IPPs and traders seeking multiple customers for their surplus generation.

Remote control solution Schréder ITERRA offers site managers a robust, cost-effective and futureproof platform to run their infrastructure with the utmost flexibility for adapting lighting to any scenario or activity while maximising energy savings and providing the best possible experience for employees, visitors and managers. The solution requires no unnecessary cabling, no programmable logic controller, and is not a complicated commissioning process. Schréder ITERRA is the 100% wireless control system for indoor and outdoor industrial facilities and large areas, the company says, adding that it is based on a Bluetooth mesh network, and it offers a plug-and-play solution able to control all luminaires and floodlights using standard DALI, DALI-2 or 0-10V/1-10V protocols.

Eskom has inked a two-year contract with its former chief operating officer Jan Oberholzer to oversee projects at Kusile and Koeberg, members of Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) heard during a visit to Eskom headquarters Megawatt Park on Wednesday. Oberholzer officially retired in April this year, with the board saying it planned to scrap the position of COO upon his departure. His retirement followed the contentious exit of former chief executive officer André de Ruyter.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands and South African State-owned power utility Eskom have signed a letter of intent to collaborate on the development and implementation of just energy transition (JET) initiatives to support job creation and community upliftment around the Grootvlei power station. The initiatives are aimed at increasing job creation, driving economic growth and improving the local environment surrounding the Grootvlei power station as it transitions from coal generation into a renewable energy hub.

In this article, Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) head of policy Lebogang Mulaisi writes that the Presidential Climate Commission’s electricity recommendation signals a potential structural shift in electricity planning for South Africa and what this could mean for labour. According to the Global Change Institute, based at the University of the Witwatersrand, one of the top five risks of climate change is “a badly-handled transition to low-carbon energy.” An unjust transition represents a lost opportunity to democratise ownership within the energy sector.