Govt moves to end load reduction
Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses government’s interventions to tackle load reduction, which is highly disruptive to the lives of people living in areas where electrical overloading is common.
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Clean energy trajectory increasingly influenced by geopolitical fragmentation – bp
Global energy company bp has added to its latest ‘Energy Outlook’ publication a section on important current issues influencing the global energy system, such as geopolitical fragmentation and the greater focus on energy security while decarbonisation remains imperative.
The company has noted changes in some countries’ energy and decarbonisation policies and signs of the global economy becoming more fragmented, which are shifts that will have implications on the energy produced and consumed across the world, says bp chief economist Spencer Dale.
Private wind farm to reduce emissions
As the largest private facility of its kind built to date in South Africa, the Witberg Wind Farm – located between the Touws river and Laingsburg, in the Western Cape – will prevent the emission of about 420 792 t of CO2 a year, supplying renewable energy to over 122 500 homes in the region. Heavy lifting engineered transport and crane rental services Sarens has contributed directly to the development of this strategic project for the South African energy sector.
Wind energy growth demands complex logistics
With wind energy becoming a key pillar in the transition to renewable energy, Midrand-based crane rental agency Concord Cranes regional director Richard Reid notes that, while wind turbines appear straightforward, the development and operation of a wind farm involves highly complex logistics. In a report by industry organisation the South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) it is stated that wind energy is increasingly becoming a leading driver of South Africa’s transition to a future built on renewable energy.
Wind farm prioritises minimising environmental impact
Mitigating the environmental impacts of construction work requires careful planning and meticulous execution, particularly in areas such as the Karoo – where vegetation can be more sensitive to disruption and take longer to recover, says construction company Concor Construction. The 140 MW Karreebosch Wind Farm, being developed by turnkey renewable energy solution provider Cennergi Holdings and green energy supplier G7 Renewable Energies – located between Matjiesfontein and Sutherland – will supply power to a private offtaker. The project comprises 25 turbines, each 100 m tall with blades over 84 m long.
Wind industry bottlenecked by grid, transmission delays
The most urgent challenge for the wind industry is unlocking grid capacity, but the complete unbundling of State-owned transmission company the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA) from State-owned electricity utility Eskom Holdings, which is equally important, appears to have stalled, says green energy company G7 Renewables. South Africa is aiming to liberalise the electricity market through the implementation of the South African Wholesale Electricity Market (SAWEM), which is intended to launch as soon as April 1, 2026, G7 Renewables CEO Dr Kilian Hagemann explains.
Market launch and unbundling progress will send powerful reform signals
Having been established in late 2022 at the height of South Africa’s electricity crisis, the Energy Council of South Africa’s initial focus was almost singular: partner with government and Eskom to end loadshedding, which was severely undermining the economy as well as critical investor confidence required for growth and job creation. Under the aegis of the Energy Action Plan (EAP), which was launched a few months earlier in July 2022, and through the partnership between government and business in the National Energy Crisis Committee (Necom), CEO James Mackay says the Energy Council mobilised business resources to support stabilisation and recovery from loadshedding. This also had strong government support and political decision-making, as evidenced by the rapidly advanced financial debt-relief package by National Treasury.
Wind sector prepares for market reform
A stable, affordable and sustainable electricity supply remains South Africa’s most urgent priority. This urgency is sharply felt by the wind industry where there is a need to unlock grid capacity, which is the single biggest bottleneck preventing the rapid scale-up of new projects, said industry organisation South African Wing Energy Association (SAWEA) CEO Niveshen Govender. Providing an overview of the state of the industry in the lead up to Windaba 2025, Govender explained that State-owned power utility Eskom’s commitment to deploy 2 GW of construction-ready projects by 2026, scaling up to 32 GW by 2040, signals its recognition of the urgent need to expand generation capacity while building for the long term through the launch of the first Renewable Energy Offtake Programme.
New smart meter-led strategy unveiled to tackle load reduction scourge
Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has unveiled a new smart meter-led strategy to address the ongoing problem of load reduction, where the supply of electricity to poor communities is cut during peak periods to avoid infrastructure being damaged by overloading caused by illegal connections. The power cuts are indiscriminate and, thus, also affect households in those areas that pay their electricity accounts.
Sanedi says govt may use Expropriation Act to secure land for transmission line rollout
South African National Energy Development Institute (Sanedi) energy secretariat head Professor Sampson Mamphweli says the government intends to leverage the Expropriation Act to acquire land for servitudes as part of its transmission network expansion programme. “It is known that much of the land under negotiation is underproductive and some farmers are no longer using it. However, in some cases, the government is pressured during negotiations and ends up paying significantly more for the servitude than the land is actually worth,” he noted at the inaugural Energy Indaba, hosted by the University of South Africa’s (Unisa) College of Human Sciences (CHS), in Pretoria, on September 22.
