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EU regulations can benefit bioethanol production in South Africa

European Union (EU) regulations that are supportive of bioethanol use will provide an opportunity for South Africa in terms of the production of ethanol fuels through various manufacturing methods. South Africa produces just over 400-million litres of ethanol a year, of which 180-million is used for potable purposes and traded within Africa at a good price, but it does not have a “very vibrant” ethanol sector yet, largely owing to the country’s unsupportive regulatory framework.
June 9, 2021 by

Honouring $100bn/y climate-finance pledge key to catalysing developing country energy transitions

Annual clean energy investment in emerging and developing economies needs to increase by more than seven times, from less than $150-billion in 2020 to over $1-trillion by 2030, if the world is to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, a new report shows. The ‘Financing Clean Energy Transitions in Emerging and Developing Economies’ report warns that economies in Asia, Africa and Latin America are set to account for the bulk of emissions growth in the coming decades unless stronger action is taken to transform their energy systems.
June 9, 2021 by

Eskom moves to Stage 4 load-shedding from 14:00 to 22:00

Load-shedding will be increased to Stage 4 from 14:00 this afternoon until 22:00 tonight, after which it will revert to Stage 2, Eskom has announced. It says this is due to additional breakdowns of a unit at Medupi and two units at the Duvha power station, together with the high winter demand, as well as to ration the remaining emergency generation reserves, which have been depleted.
June 9, 2021 by

Wind could produce affordable green hydrogen by 2030, Siemens Gamesa says

Wind power could make it possible to produce hydrogen without emitting greenhouse gases as cheaply as is currently feasible with fossil fuel energy by 2030, turbine maker Siemens Gamesa said in a white paper released on Wednesday. Policymakers see green hydrogen, which is made with renewable power without emitting carbon, as a vital tool to help shift economies away from planet-warming energy sources and to stave off climate change, but want to reduce its sky-high costs.
June 9, 2021 by

Gas a bridge for South Africa to become a low-carbon economy

South Africa will need to use gas as a “very solid bridge” to ensure a just and inclusive transition to a low-carbon economy, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) Business School professor Maurice Radebe has said. The feedstock’s acting as a bridge, he explained during a presentation at the Enlit Africa conference on June 8, is feasible when one considers that gas has 55% less emissions than coal.
June 9, 2021 by

Stage 2 load-shedding from 5pm – Eskom

Stage 2 load-shedding will be implemented from 17:00 on Tuesday due to delays bringing generating units back online, Eskom said in a statement.  Eskom earlier warned that the power system was severely constrained. Breakdowns currently total 15 498 MW of capacity, while another 1 273 MW of capacity is unavailable due to planned maintenance. Unit 1 of the Koeberg power station has been offline since January for maintenance work. It was supposed to return to service last month, but this still hasn’t happened.
June 9, 2021 by

Renewable energy organisations to host second series of business development webinars

Following a successful webinar series on business opportunities in the renewable energy sector in 2020, a second series started in May this year in collaboration between the South Africa Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) and the South African Photovoltaic Industry Association (SAPVIA).

The 2020 editions served as a capacity building programme for aspiring renewable energy developers to share knowledge and drive effective change, while the second series is themed on developing the local renewable energy value chain.

June 9, 2021 by

CapeNature takes Cederberg office off-grid

Biodiversity conservation organisation CapeNature is installing a 75 kW solar photovoltaic system at its offices in Algeria, in the Cederberg region of South Africa’s Western Cape.

The Cederberg wilderness is three hours outside of Cape Town and the organisation strives to continuously improve its reserves.

June 9, 2021 by

Chinese small modular nuclear reactor demonstration plant approved for construction

The China National Nuclear Power (CNNP) company has received approval to build its small modular reactor (SMR) demonstration plant at Changjiang in China’s southernmost (and island) province of Hainan, “World Nuclear News” has reported, citing a CNNP notice to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. CNNP is a subsidiary of the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC). The demonstration SMR is designated the ACP100. The project will be owned by the CNNC Hainan Nuclear Power Company, which is a subsidiary of the CNNP (and not a direct subsidiary of the CNNC). The full title of the actual SMR project is the Hainan Changjiang Multipurpose Small Modular Reactor Technology Demonstration Project.
June 9, 2021 by