Author Archive for: Engineering News

 Spain’s Grupo Cobra and SENER companies are seeking to exit their stake in the 100 MW Ilanga solar power plant, which supplies electricity to South Africa’s national grid, two sources with knowledge of the process told Reuters. Grupo Solar and SENER have hired bankers for the transaction, the sources said, in line with their strategies to exit minority stakes in up and running assets.

Wind and solar power consortium Ikamva will build 12 new wind and solar projects with a combined capacity of 1.27 GW have won preferred bidder status in Bid Window (BW) 5 of South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). The 12 projects, across onshore wind and solar, will generate enough clean energy to power a third of the yearly electricity demand of the City of Cape Town, and represent half of the total allocation in the BW, which was the most competitive to date and was almost four-times oversubscribed, wind and solar power multinational Mainstream Renewable Power says.

Hydrogen can provide the lowest-cost decarbonisation solution for over a fifth of final energy demand by mid-century – contributing a cumulative reduction of 80 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2), the Hydrogen Council’s CEO Coalition has told delegates attending COP26, in Glasgow. To achieve that target, the coalition recommends strong public-private collaboration.

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has expressed optimism that the newly established Energy Council of South Africa will provide a platform for greater coordination and cohesion within the sector, which has hitherto approached government and debates on the energy transition as “competitors” rather than as a unified voice. The CEO-led council was officially launched on Tuesday and includes representatives from Eskom, Sasol, the Central Energy Fund, Anglo American Platinum, Exxaro, TotalEnergies South Africa and the Industrial Development Corporation, as well as Business Unity South Africa, the Black Business Council, the National Business Initiative, the South African Petroleum Industry Association, Naamsa | The Automotive Business Council and the Minerals Council South Africa.

A new global renewable energy alliance between the wind energy and solar photovoltaic (PV) industries is calling on governments to implement energy transition action plans and cut red tape to meet net-zero targets. A joint study by industry organisations the Global Solar Council and the Global Wind Energy Council found that, by 2030, there will be a 29% shortfall in the projected wind and solar capacity required to keep the world on course to limit global warming to 1.5 ˚C above preindustrial levels and sustain a pathway to carbon neutrality by 2050.