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Interest in Nersa hearings waning

Engineering News Editor Terence Creamer talks about the public hearings that were due to be held this week by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa), but which had to be rescheduled owing to a poor response; what Nersa will do next; and the overall trend of waning interest in Nersa hearings.  
October 14, 2022 by

High pressure on the transport industry to shift to

Road transport is the most prioritised area to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, according to leading e-commerce and manufacturing companies in Europe. A new report carried out by market research company Ipsos and vehicle manufacturer Volvo Trucks shows that companies are willing to pay more for transport suppliers with lower CO2 emissions. On behalf of Volvo Trucks Ipsos interviewed 100 large e-commerce and manufacturing companies in eight European countries about their demand for fossil fuel free transports in future procurements. The countries included in the survey were the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Sweden and Norway.
October 14, 2022 by

Steenbras plant protected Capetonians from worse loadshedding

The City of Cape Town says its electricity customers have been protected from more than 1 100 hours of the 1 900 hours of loadshedding implemented by State-owned Eskom between February and September this year. “Where possible, the city has been able to protect its customers from up to two stages of loadshedding primarily through the management of the Steenbras Hydro Pumped Storage Scheme,” says City of Cape Town energy MMC Beverley van Reenen.
October 13, 2022 by

DMRE DDG updates wind power conference on Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill

The Department of Minerals Resources and Energy (DMRE) has made “significant progress” in the process of promulgating the Electricity Regulation Amendment (ERA) Bill, DMRE deputy director-general for mining, minerals and energy policy Ntokozo Ngcwabe has told the Windaba 2022 conference in Cape Town. Approval by the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, and submission to the full Cabinet, should both happen next month. Subsequently, it would be tabled in Parliament. She explained that, at that point, Parliament’s own processes, procedures and timescales took over and the DMRE no longer had any control over the progress of the Bill. The department would follow and monitor the parliamentary process, to be ready to respond to any queries or comments that might be generated by the parliamentary process.
October 13, 2022 by

Jobs first, or energy-first, asks Windaba panel

Manufacturing is responsible for only one-third of jobs within the wind energy sector, says Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy Africa area director Marcel Cabral. Speaking at Windaba 2022 in Cape Town on Thursday on a panel around localisation in the wind sector, Cabral noted that the other two-thirds revolved around the development, construction, running and maintenance of wind farms, and “that South Africa had all the resources for that”.
October 13, 2022 by

Nersa sets new dates for Ministerial determination concurrence hearings

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has announced new dates for public hearings regarding its concurrence with three Ministerial determinations opening the way for the procurement of 18 771 MW of new electricity capacity, having initially cancelled hearings scheduled for this week, owing to a lack of response. In a notice issued on October 13, Nersa announced that the time for public comment regarding its concurrence with the determinations had been extended and invited stakeholders to attend rescheduled virtual hearings on October 20 and 21, between 13:00 and 17:00 on both days.
October 13, 2022 by

Wind power a necessary part of a just energy transition, says Mantashe

Clean energy is set to be a major contributor to a global and sustainable energy system and wind energy is becoming one of the lowest-cost sources of clean energy, Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe said during the eleventh Windaba Conference, in Cape Town, on October 12. He noted that the conference was being held at a time when South Africa was experiencing frequent loadshedding owing to challenges with the performance of its existing coal-fired power generation plants.
October 12, 2022 by

For DMRE, just energy transition requires security of energy supply, while industry needs …

Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) director-general Jacob Mbele has given his department’s conception of what a just energy transition would look like. He was responding to a question during a panel discussion at the Windaba 2022 conference, on Wednesday morning, in Cape Town. The energy transition refers to the global move away from high carbon-emitting energy sources to low- or even zero-carbon emitting energy sources. “For us, as the DMRE, we’re responsible for the security of energy supply,” he pointed out. “So, a just transition for us is a transition in which there is a secure energy supply, and that energy supply is sustainable [including regarding the environment and climate change], that energy supply is affordable, [and] reliable. Those for me are the key parts of what would be just.”
October 12, 2022 by