Author Archive for: Engineering News

South Africa should move forward with pilot projects to enable the green hydrogen economy to grow on a larger scale, says project integrator and technology provider Green Hydrogen Solutions founder and CEO Ebrahim Takolia. “As more renewable energy comes online from Eskom and distributed energy sources, significant surplus renewable energy can be used with dedicated sources of renewable energy to produce  hydrogen and its derivatives, and at the same time provide long duration storage, improving the business case for renewable energy.”

As South Africa’s energy needs rebound on the back of improved economic activity, it is evident that standby power will be needed for the foreseeable future, as the connection of enough embedded generation and renewable-energy projects to the national grid is taking place too slowly. The grid can also not cope with the additional power supply and, thus, with the last bidding round (Round 5) issued by the Independent Power Producers Office, certain projects were not allowed to proceed, particularly in areas such as the Northern Cape, where most existing solar projects are situated or planned for future development, says Economic Development Solutions (EDS) MD Janine Espin.

Nonprofit organisation Earthlife Africa is requesting increased grassroots-level engagement and popular education on the energy-related Just Transition Framework to ensure ordinary people in South Africa understand the issues relating to climate change and the just transition.

Over the past few weeks, the Presidential Climate Change (PCC) Commission has started to ramp-up its consultation with communities on a framework pathway for a just transition.

Eskom has indicated that there is a threat of a resumption of load-shedding after the Easter long weekend given its assessment that more than 9 700 MW of capacity is currently “at risk” of tripping in addition to that which is currently unavailable owing to planned or unplanned outages. Generation executive Phillip Dukashe reported on Thursday that there was a plan to use the space created by the falloff in demand over the public holiday weekend to tackle those units that were currently showing signs of being under strain.

A small proof-of-concept green hydrogen facility in Vredendal, in the Western Cape, has entered into production and its developers are now seeking to raise finance for a 5 MW commercial project, which they believe could be the precursor to a ‘hydrogen valley’ in the province. The commercial plant would comprise a 10 MW solar photovoltaic facility and a 5 MW hydrogen plant and is expected to involve an investment of R460-million, depending on the cost of the electrolyser units.