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Eskom granted exemption to operate temporary stacks at Kusile for 13 months

Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy has granted Eskom exemption that will enable it to operate temporary stacks at the Kusile power station, in Mpumalanga, for 13 months without using the flue-gas delsuphurisation (FGD) mechanism. The exemption, which was granted on March 14, has not been extended in terms of the newly published State of Disaster regulations as requested by Eskom, but rather in line with Section 59 of the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act (NEMAQA), and includes several conditions.
March 15, 2023 by

Schneider Electric, UJ open 4IR experience room for engineering students

Energy management and automation multinational Schneider Electric and the University of Johannesburg (UJ) Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment have unveiled a Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) Experience Room on the university’s Auckland Park campus. The room is a practical demonstration of the inner workings of 4IR, its interconnectivity and relevance in sectors such as energy, and is focused on engineering faculty students, the company said.
March 15, 2023 by

South Africa has plans in place to safeguard food supply amid power crisis

South Africa’s government has contingency plans in place to safeguard key food-production facilities against an escalation in power cuts that are already at record levels, the nation’s agriculture minister said. Africa’s most industrialized economy has been subjected to rolling blackouts, known locally as loadshedding, since 2008 because state power utility Eskom Holdings has been unable to meet demand from its old and poorly maintained plants. The problem has escalated since last year, raising concerns that food security is at risk.
March 15, 2023 by

€15m Just SA launched in bid to unlock Mpumalanga transition projects

A new €15-million initiative has been launched to provide research and technical support for “catalytic” just transition projects in South Africa’s Mpumalanga province, currently the centre of South Africa’s coal industry and where 22 GW of coal-fired power capacity is scheduled for retirement before 2035. Dubbed Just SA, the ‘Just Transition to a Decarbonised Economy for South Africa’ project is being funded by the German government’s International Climate Initiative and will be implemented over a five-year period.
March 14, 2023 by

Karpowership SA responds to latest setbacks to its proposed gas-to-power projects

For three years, gas-to-power supplier Karpowership South Africa (Karpowership SA) has been subjected to multiple allegations about its proposed gas-to-power projects in Saldanha Bay, Richards Bay and the Port of Ngqura, despite the much-needed additional electricity supply it can inject into the grid.
The Turkish parent company Karpowership has long been ready to supply 1.2 GW of power to South Africa using ship-mounted gas-to-power plants; however, a series of lawsuits and complaints by environmental groups and rival bidders have continued to hamper its efforts.
March 14, 2023 by

Consumer commission warns of safety issues with some GIZZU portable power stations

The National Consumer Commission is urging all persons in possession of GIZZU 300 Wh and 500 Wh portable power stations to immediately stop using these and to return them to the supplier. The importer and distributor, Syntech Distribution – the supplier – has informed the commission of the precautionary recall of these products following reports of fire hazards, as some of these devices combusted while charging.
March 14, 2023 by

African financial institutions will continue to fund fossil fuel projects on the continent

While Africa is part of the global transition to low carbon energy, the consumption of oil and gas on the continent will increase, at least in the short term. So observed Standard Bank executive energy & infrastructure coverage: East Africa Maina Kigundu at the African Refiners and Distributors Association conference, at the Century City Convention Centre in Cape Town, on Tuesday. The decarbonization plans of international corporations were affecting investment in Africa. There was decreasing investment in the oil sector, but increasing investment was likely in the liquified natural gas (LNG) sector, he reported.
March 14, 2023 by

Loadshedding downgraded from Wednesday

Due to some recovery in generation capacity over the past 48 hours, loadshedding will be reduced to Stage 3 from 05:00 on Wednesday until 16:00. Thereafter, Stage 4 loadshedding will be implemented until 05:00 on Thursday. This pattern will continue, until further notice. Over the past 48 hours, the repairs to the damaged towers from Cahora Bassa in Mozambique were completed and restored to full capacity, Eskom said in a statement. A generating unit each at Arnot, Grootvlei, Kriel, and Tutuka power stations has been returned to service. During the same period a generating unit each at Lethabo, and two units at Kriel power stations were taken offline for repairs. The return to service of a generating unit each at Hendrina and Medupi power stations is delayed. Breakdowns currently total 13 949MW of generating capacity while 4 322MW of generating capacity is out of service for planned maintenance.
March 14, 2023 by

Vestas secures order for three wind farms in South Africa

Wind turbine manufacturer and supplier Vestas has secured a contract for the supply and installation of wind turbines for independent power producer Red Rocket’s Brandvalley, Rietkloof and Wolf wind parks, to be built in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces. The three wind farms will have a combined capacity of 373 MW and the contract will entail the supply and installation of 64 V150-4.5 MW wind turbines, 12 V163-4.5 MW wind turbines and five V162-6.2 MW Enventus wind turbines.
March 14, 2023 by

DTIC’s new energy one-stop shop to include ‘unblocking teams’ to speed up electricity …

Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel reports that that energy one-stop-shop to speed up the regulatory processes required for private investment in electricity generation has been established and is being managed by InvestSA. In a presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry, Patel reported that the one-stop shop had been established in line with the Energy Action Plan (EAP) to tackle loadshedding, which has since been declared a state of disaster.
March 14, 2023 by