Author Archive for: Engineering News

Eskom’s proposal to restructure renewable energy tariffs will impede growth in private sector investment in renewable energy projects and destroy intentions to wheel surplus energy through Eskom’s grid, as doing so will hold little financial gain, Meridian Economics MD Grove Steyn has said.

Speaking at public hearings held by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) on October 27, he said that, despite the need to balance Eskom’s revenue collection efforts with the need for a rapid rollout of renewable energy projects, the issue of restructuring tariffs was “very complex” and that loadshedding was the most pressing issue that needed to be resolved in the immediate term.

South Africa expects an $8.5-billion climate-finance package that it’s negotiating with some of the world’s richest nations to attract significant additional funds to help it transition away from using coal to generate electricity. The government is discussing a wide-ranging energy transition plan for the next five years with the UK, US, Germany, France and the European Union as a step toward securing the funds, which will pay for part of the needed investment laid out in the proposal, according to Daniel Mminele, a former central banker appointed to lead the talks for South Africa.

Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront was planning to double its solar energy capacity as part of its response to the ongoing power cuts imposed, on a rolling basis, across the country by national electricity utility Eskom, and known in South Africa as loadshedding. This was stated by V&A Waterfront (V&A) CEO David Green at a media briefing on Wednesday. He reported that the directors and executives of the V&A had determined that loadshedding was likely to be a long-term problem, given that so much of Eskom’s generating fleet was old and needed replacement. Current installed solar capacity at the waterfront was 2 MW. This would be increased to 4 MW in the near future, although he did not give a timeframe. And there was the potential for even greater solar energy capacity to be installed in the coming years.

The drop in Russian fossil fuel exports after its Ukraine invasion this year will transform the global energy landscape for decades and can help to hasten a green energy transition, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Thursday. The IEA’s annual World Energy Outlook acknowledges the economic hit from reduced supplies of Russian oil, natural gas and coal but is keeping an environmental best case scenario in which no investment in new fossil fuel projects is needed.

The Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) has kicked off the procurement process for the design and construction supervision of the Oxbow Hydropower Scheme. Interested firms have until March 13, 2023, to submit their bids.