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Drones successful in deterring railway cable theft syndicates

Johannesburg-based unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operator and developer UAV & Drone Solutions (UDS) proposes that government departments and State-owned entities (SOEs) use, to a far greater extent, the services it provides to curb critical infrastructure theft and vandalism.

Cable theft for SOEs like Transnet, Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) and Eskom has a significant negative impact on the operators’ ability to transport people and goods; as well as to provide electricity.

March 15, 2022 by

Creecy wants climate commission to oversee consultations on air quality disputes

Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy has written to President Cyril Ramaphosa to request that the Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) be allowed to oversee public consultations on appeals that have arisen in relation to air-quality compliance by Eskom power stations. Several appeals have been lodged against decisions taken by the Department’s National Air Quality Officer in relation to  the requests for the suspension and/or postponement of compliance with the Minimum Emission Standards (MES) and the issuance of provisional atmospheric emission licences.
March 14, 2022 by

Engineering firm hoping to help ‘rebuild South Africa’ through new energy projects

Founded in 1998, engineering firm TerraStruc will soon set up shop on South African soil as part of its growth trajectory, which includes contracting capabilities and design, construction and property development for renewable energy projects in sub-Saharan Africa. As part of this move into the lower half of Africa, TerraStruc partner Johann Schoeman says that the company is aiming to have its first project in South Africa up-and-running by mid-2022.
March 14, 2022 by

Eskom CEO holds talks on potential projects with World Bank

The head of South Africa’s state power utility held discussions with the World Bank as it explores options for transitioning from coal-fired stations to cleaner sources of energy. Eskom Holdings CEO Andre de Ruyter travelled to the bank’s headquarters for the talks earlier this week. The utility supplies more than 90% of the country’s electricity, the bulk of it from coal.
March 11, 2022 by

AfricaGoGreen Fund receives $31.5m to promote private sector efficiency investments

Development finance institution the African Development Bank (AfDB) and its Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) have approved a combined-equity investment of $20-million in the AfricaGoGreen Fund (AGGF) debt fund, which was established to promote private investments in energy-efficient technologies and business models, decarbonise African economies and accelerate the energy transition. This is in addition to the $11.5-million equity contribution approved by development finance institution the Nordic Development Fund (NDF).
March 11, 2022 by

City of Cape Town studying battery storage as part of strategy to end load-shedding

The City of Cape Town is at the preliminary stages of assessing the business case for the deployment of battery energy storage systems (BESS) as part of its evolving strategy to eliminate the threat of load-shedding for its residents. The city is already moving ahead with plans to procure 300 MW of renewables generation from independent power producers and generation development manager Shane Prins reports that BESS is also on the city’s radar.
March 11, 2022 by

Cape Town looks to IPPs to make the city load-shedding resilient by 2027

Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis is taking steps to protect the city from Stage 3 load-shedding by 2027 at a minimum – but preferably Stage 4 – in a move that he believes will facilitate “meaningfully faster” growth across the metropole. “Not only is it inconvenient to have load-shedding, but right now the energy crisis is the biggest handbrake on the South African economy.”
March 11, 2022 by

Sonangol working to develop green hydrogen production strategy

Angolan State-owned oil and gas company Sonangol’s Research and Development Centre is working to develop a strategy to produce green hydrogen. It has been conducting conceptual and engineering studies in Angola to identify a site for the installation of a plant to produce green hydrogen and its derivatives for domestic and foreign consumption.
March 10, 2022 by