Entries by

Bitcoin-paying solar power company plans African expansion

Sun Exchange, a South African firm that crowd-sources funds for solar panels and leases them to customers, plans to expand to other countries on the continent. The company, backed by a group part-owned by billionaire Patrice Motsepe’s African Rainbow Capital Investments Ltd., raised $1.4 million for a solar panel and battery-storage project at a Zimbabwean fruit and berry producer, in what it says is the biggest crowd-funded project in Africa.
January 27, 2022 by

Green primary iron could help South Africa offset fall in coal export revenues – study

Producing carbon-free primary iron in South Africa using green hydrogen direct reduced iron (GHDRI) technology could create a new globally competitive green export industry that could help offset the losses associated with the eventual decline in coal exports, a new study shows. Such exports would also reduce the cost of decarbonising global steel production, owing to the relative cost advantages of producing renewable energy in South Africa and, therefore, green hydrogen. Producing GHDRI involves a new type of furnace that uses hydrogen for the direct reduction of the iron-ore, as opposed to the traditional route that uses coke.
January 26, 2022 by

CEF in the clear with exec appointments

The board of the Central Energy Fund (CEF) says the Auditor-General’s (AG’s) final management report relating to the appointment of CEF executives confirms that the appointment processes were conducted lawfully and in accordance with internal recruitment policies.    The CEF recently appointed group CEO Dr Ishmael Poolo, COO Dr Tshepo Mokoka and group executive for legal affairs Brenda Moagi.
January 26, 2022 by

Agreement inked to develop hydrogen recycling of end-of-life wind turbine magnets

Magnet metal and rare earths miner Pensana has signed a cooperation agreement with oil, gas and wind power company Equinor, forming a working group to share technical and commercial information to develop a low-energy method for recycling end-of-life magnets at Pensana’s rare earths hub in the Saltend Chemical Park, in the UK. Pensana chairperson Paul Atherley says the agreement relates to processing end-of-life magnets from wind turbine nacelles using properties found in hydrogen as a powerful reductant. Recycling permanent magnets using hydrogen not as a fuel, but as a reductant, while also benefitting from the decarbonised power supply within Saltend, offers the parties a clean alternative that uses 88% less energy than virgin magnet manufacture.
January 25, 2022 by

McKinsey pegs the price tag of a livable climate at $9.2tr a year

A new analysis from McKinsey & Co. estimates that the investment, in new infrastructure and systems, needed to meet international climate goals could be $9.2-trillion a year through 2050. That’s at least $3.5-trillion more a year than the world is currently laying out for both low-carbon and fossil-fuel infrastructure and changes in how people use land. McKinsey analysts wanted a sense of how much investment would be necessary, and what behavioral changes would be required, to slash the impact …
January 25, 2022 by

Natural gas, electricity price volatility and inflation the result of natural gas crisis

Natural gas and electricity prices have spiked to record highs, most notably in Europe and some major Asian markets, causing potentially significant economic impacts and volatility in gas and electricity markets, driven by turmoil in natural gas markets, says intergovernmental organisation International Energy Agency (IEA) executive director Dr Fatih Birol. A range of issues are affecting the natural gas sector, including last year’s exceptionally rapid global economic rebound, outages and maintenance of key gas infrastructure and a lack of sufficient supply from Russia, which are driving broader energy market turbulence in Europe.
January 24, 2022 by

Electricity tariff hearings

Creamer Media’s Chanel de Bruyn speaks to Engineering News Editor Terence Creamer about the key themes that emerged during the public hearings, hosted by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, into Eskom’s latest revenue application, the way forward and what is needed for South Africa to move beyond an ongoing tussle over tariffs.
January 24, 2022 by

Eskom warns inflation-linked hike will trigger request for more government support

State-owned utility Eskom warns that an inflation-linked hike will force it to seek yet more support from the National Treasury, amid overwhelming calls for the energy regulator to reject its request for a 20.5% tariff hike from April 1 and to implement a single-digit increase instead. Stakeholder warnings over the unaffordability of the proposed increase on business and households emerged as the core theme during week-long public hearings, which were hosted by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) from January 17 to 21, culminating in a hybrid event in Gauteng.
January 21, 2022 by

Nigerian VP calls for natural gas to be accepted as a transition fuel

Nigerian VP Yemi Osinbajo has called for natural gas – which Africa has in abundance – to be accepted by the rest of the globe as a transitional fuel. In his address to the Davos Agenda 2022 – hosted by the World Economic Forum – on January 21, Osinbajo reminded world leaders that, although Africa contributed the least to climate change, the continent has been the most negatively affected by it.
January 21, 2022 by