Author Archive for: Engineering News

State-owned utility Eskom has invited interested parties to review and comment on the recently completed socioeconomic-impact assessment study for the Komati power station, which is being decommissioned and repurposed. Comments can be submitted by email to: social@urban-econ.com, or via WhatsApp to: +27 60 978 8396.

State-owned utility Eskom has reiterated its commitment to supporting transformation and empowerment in South Africa through its procurement. This follows after an Eskom board member was quoted in a weekend newspaper as saying that the utility could only be saved if current procurement policies were done away with.

German instrumentation and control company Vega opened its new 6 000 m2 Africa head office and warehouse, in Lanseria, on October 31, to enhance service in the country, as well as expand services and products into Southern and Central Africa.

Having previously occupied a 1 000 m2 Africa head office and warehouse in Honeydew from 2012 until this year, MD Frikkie Streicher says the company, experiencing significant growth over the past five to six years, has a long-term vision for the new building, having been allocated land with plenty of extra space – 15 000 m2 in total – so that the company can expand, as and when the need arises.

The West African country of Ghana is set to be the first beneficiary of a new joint US-Japan civil nuclear cooperation agreement, established last week, named ‘Winning an Edge Through Cooperation in Advanced Nuclear’ (WECAN). Aimed at helping countries meet both their energy security and climate change mitigation goals, the agreement was signed at a Ministerial meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the US capital of Washington DC. “The [IAEA] considers nuclear energy necessary to achieve long-term climate goals, including net-zero emissions by 2050,” pointed out the US State Department in its press release. “WECAN reaffirms commitments by Japan and the United States to energy innovation, energy security, and global clean energy transition in a smart, cost-effective, and secure way by advancing the latest technology and commercial leadership in emerging technologies that provide firm, reliable electricity and industrial heat.”

Eskom has announced that the final unit at the Komati power station in Mpumalanga was shut at midday October 31, officially signalling the end of the station’s operating life as a coal-fired generator and the site’s transition to a renewables, storage, manufacturing and training hub – one that could serve as a global reference as several countries consider ways to transition away from fossil fuels while supporting the livelihoods of affected workers and communities. Komati has been identified as the flagship site for Eskom’s so-called ‘Just Energy Transition (JET) Strategy’, which includes various repowering and repurposing initiatives, including the development of 150 MW of solar photovoltaic, 70 MW of wind and 150 MW battery storage at the retired station.