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Solidarity welcomes investigation into Medupi Unit 4’s explosion

Trade union Solidarity says it supports State-owned power utility Eskom’s investigation following an explosion at Unit 4 of the Medupi coal-fired power station, in Lephalale, on August 8. Eskom had confirmed on August 9 that the unit generator had been severely damaged in the explosion, which occurred during the displacement of hydrogen with carbon dioxide and air, respectively, for the purposes of finding an external leak.
August 10, 2021 by

Boikanyo Solar comes on line in the Northern Cape

Boikanyo Solar, situated in the Siyancuma local municipality, close to Douglas, in the Northern Cape, started commercial operations earlier this year, having reached grid code compliance on April 9. This project, which took a year to build, is part of a portfolio of six projects owned by the same shareholders and procured under the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme Bid Window 4, and is the last of the six to come online.
August 10, 2021 by

Absa completes R5.2bn debt refinancing for three Globeleq power plants

Independent power producer Globeleq and financial services firm Absa have completed the senior debt refinancing of three of Globeleq’s renewable energy power plants in South Africa, the companies said on August 10. The purpose of the refinancing is to enhance the projects’ capital structures, allowing for the release of value to shareholders and the reduction of the tariff to the national utility and, ultimately, consumers in South Africa.
August 10, 2021 by

Explosion damages Medupi’s Unit 4

Power utility Eskom has confirmed that an explosion at the Medupi power station’s Unit 4 generator on August 8 has resulted in extensive damage to the generator. Unit 4 had been on a short-term outage since August 6 and the explosion occurred during the displacement of hydrogen with carbon dioxide and air, respectively, for the purposes of finding an external leak.
August 9, 2021 by

Major new climate report puts pressure on COP26 to ‘consign coal to history’

A landmark report by climate change scientists released Monday is expected to ratchet up the pressure on world leaders to rapidly end the use of polluting fossil fuels. Some of the most important readers of the 3 949-page report by the United Nations-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change—or at least the more manageable “summary for policymakers”—will soon be headed to Glasgow, Scotland, for COP26 climate talks, also organized by the UN. In less than three months’ time, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will host 197 countries for negotiations aimed at limiting global temperature rise, which is already causing wildfires and flooding around the world.
August 9, 2021 by

Petrochem giant uses tech for greener fuel

In April JSE-listed synthetic fuels and chemicals company Sasol announced it will work alongside a consortium comprising multinational chemical company Linde, renewable energy company Enertrag and investment company Navitas Holdings to bid in concept for the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) under the auspices of the German federal government’s H2 Global Auction Platform.  By working with the consortium, known as LEN, Sasol will be able to collaborate with world class partners on the opportunity, employing its extensive experience in producing liquid fuels and chemicals making use of its Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis technology.
August 6, 2021 by

Nafcoc appeals to Creecy to reconsider Karpowership South Africa’s EIAs

The National African Federated Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Nafcoc) is appealing to the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) to reconsider its rejection of the Karpowership South Africa’s (SA’s) environmental-impact assessment (EIA) applications. The EIAs were submitted for three locations – the port of Ngqura, Saldanha Bay and Richards Bay.
August 5, 2021 by

Enel contributing to South Africa’s renewable energy industry, communities

Renewable energy company Enel Green Power (EGP) South Africa is contributing to the country’s renewable energy industry, as well as undertaking various initiatives to uplift communities locally, speakers said during a virtual media roundtable hosted by the company on August 5. EGP has 12 wind and solar plants in South Africa. This entails nine projects in operation and three under construction, EGP South Africa country manager Willian Price outlined.
August 5, 2021 by