Author Archive for: Engineering News

The five nuclear energy-using member countries of the Group of Seven major democratic economies (G7) on Sunday issued a joint statement announcing their intent to create a global commercial nuclear fuel market. The countries are Canada, France, Japan, the UK and the US. (The other two G7 countries are Germany, which has just closed its last nuclear power plants, and Italy, which closed its last nuclear power plants in 1990.) “Collaborating on strategic opportunities in uranium extraction, conversion, enrichment, and fabrication supports our collective climate, energy security and economic resilience objectives,” affirmed the five countries in their joint statement. “This multilateral cooperation would enable us to strengthen our domestic sectors and establish a level playing field to compete more effectively against predatory suppliers.”

The inability of South Africa’s main power producer Eskom Holdings to meet demand is not only hurting the continent’s most-industrialised economy but affecting manufacturers on an island more than 2 000 miles away. Chronic power shortages have reduced demand for Mauritian manufactured goods by South African retailers, the main buyer of products from Mauritius, Arif Currimjee, the outgoing chairperson of the Mauritius Export Association, said in an emailed response to questions. The outages pose a “downside risk” to growth in the industry after two straight years of recovery, he said.

Karpowership SA missed a deadline to appeal the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment’s (DFFE) decision to refuse it environmental authorisation for a floating gas power project at the Ngqura port. It, however, submitted the appeal 10 days after it was due, and now seeks an extension.

The South African government is moving to exclude solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery storage facilities from the requirement to obtain environmental authorisation in areas where the environmental sensitivity is officially classified to be medium to low. Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy is seeking public comment on the plan, which is outlined in a Government Gazette notice, indicating that the exclusion has been proposed in terms of Section 24(2)(d) of the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 and applies subject to compliance with a prescribed ‘norm’ developed in terms of 24(10) of the National Environmental Management Act, 1998.

At a National Colloquium held on April 14, the Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) identified several key points, some facets of contention and further areas of consideration with regard to its newly released draft recommendations to government on national electricity planning, as South Africa reviews its Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). Following discussions during the colloquium, the PCC reiterated that the country was in the midst of a global energy transition that held major implications for the South African economy, jobs and people’s welfare.