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Eskom insists it has applied for a 20.5% tariff hike, as Nersa table shows 32.15%

State-owned electricity utility Eskom continues to maintain that its revenue application, including the implementation of regulatory clearing account (RCA) decisions already made, would translate to a 20.5% increase in the standard tariff on April 1, rather than the 32.15% hike outlined in a ‘pro forma’ table produced by the regulator. The National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (Nersa’s) figure, which has been shared with Engineering News & Mining Weekly, is based on revenue from standard tariff customers rising to R302.9-billion in 2022/23, from R245.7-billion in 2021/22.
December 13, 2021 by

Oil industry cleaning technique adapted for nuclear decontamination in the UK

The adoption of a cleaning method from the oil and gas industry has allowed the decontamination of pipe sections from the former Harwell nuclear research site in the UK. As a result, instead of having to be stored as low-level nuclear waste, the sections of pipe can be recycled. “By adapting a proven technology and applying it to the treatment of the pipework, the amount of waste that would otherwise need to be consigned to the low-level radioactive waste repository has been drastically reduced and only small volumes of secondary waste will need processing for onward treatment and disposal,” explained Low Level Waste Repository Ltd (LLWR) Waste Management Services Consultant and Magnox Relationship Manager Carly Sutton. LLWR manages and operates the UK’s permanent repository for low level nuclear waste, near Drigg in West Cumbria in England.
December 13, 2021 by

Energy expert makes case for solar-wind-storage only IRP with game changing ‘superpower’

An Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) comprising only solar, wind and storage (SWS) would deliver not only a load-shedding-free electricity supply industry but also create the platform for new industries to be built on near-zero-marginal-cost excess green electricity, a South African energy expert shows. Detailed modelling undertaken by Clyde Mallinson outlines that this alternative SWS IRP would involve the deployment, between 2021 and 2040, of 40 GW of new wind, 230 GW of solar photovoltaic (PV) and 35 GW/290 GWh of storage, comprising mainly of battery energy storage and mechanical gravitational potential energy storage.
December 10, 2021 by

De Ruyter responds to Seifsa’s open letter, arranges for further engagement

Eskom CEO André de Ruyter has responded to an open letter submitted to him by the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa), dated November 23.

In the open letter, Seifsa wrote on behalf of 18 employer organisations, representing 170 000 employees, asking for his assurance that corruption at the power utility is being rooted out , as well as asking for Eskom to effect greater predictability on blackouts for businesses going forward.

December 10, 2021 by

NGO sets bold target of positively impacting the lives of ten-million people by 2026

Nongovernmental organisation (NGO) Innovation: Africa has set itself the ambitious goal of impacting more than ten-million people positively by the end of 2026, through the installation of solar power in schools and medical centers and the implementation of solar water pumping systems in rural African villages. To date, the organisation has completed over 600 solar and water projects and over the next five years, aims to complete more than 2 000 projects. This goal equates to one project, or installation, a day.
December 10, 2021 by

1.27 GW of new, clean power supplied to S Africa

Global wind and solar company Mainstream Renewable Power (RP) announced in October that 12 of its projects have won preferred bidder status in round five of South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). The wind and solar projects, which have a total capacity of 1.27 GW, represent half of the total allocation in the round, which was the most competitive to date, being almost four times oversubscribed.  
December 10, 2021 by

Renewable-energy projects create economic, power growth

Renewable power generation company Lekela Power says its projects have grown from the 80 MW produced from wind farms in Noupoort, in the Northern Cape of South Africa, in 2016, to more than 1 GW. “In South Africa, through the various rounds of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP), Lekela Power has invested in five projects of up to 620 MW of generation through wind farms across the country. This makes up the biggest part of our portfolio,” says Lekela Power COO Chris Ford.
December 10, 2021 by

Bid Window 5 bidders announced

Last month, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) announced the preferred bidders for Bid Window 5 of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). This will see just short of 2 600 MW of new generation capacity being developed by independent power producers (IPPs), including 1 600 MW from onshore wind energy and 1 000 MW from solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants. This is in line with the government’s intention to increase generation capacity and ensure the security of energy supply to society.
December 10, 2021 by

Multiple energy projects meet industry demands

Renewable-energy provider Africa Clean Energy Solutions (ACES) Renewables is developing multiple renewable-energy projects across South Africa. “We are developing a 10 MW biomass plant, in Mpumalanga, which will provide power for the surrounding mines in the area. We are also developing a 2.8 MW photovoltaic (PV) solar farm – with the possibility of increasing to 10 MW – in Kariega, Gqeberha, which will supply power to surrounding industrial clients,” says ACES Renewables technical project manager Tumelo Lekalakala.
December 10, 2021 by

As global steel industry mulls sustainable solutions, SA urged to ‘green’ iron-ore

Producing ‘green steel’ in South Africa might be a distant dream, but exporting ‘green iron-ore’ is achievable in the medium term, says Afriforesight materials engineer and project innovation manager Dr Brandon Davoren. Amid the global trend towards sustainability and in the wake of the twenty-sixth United Nations’ Climate Change Conference of the Parties, or COP26, mining companies and steel producers are considering the viability of ‘greening’ the steel industry and, as a result, the iron-ore sector.
December 10, 2021 by