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Medupi conveyor belt repaired

State-owned power utility Eskom says the conveyor belt that feeds coal into the Medupi generation units, which failed on the evening of September 9, has been repaired and is back in service.

This has lowered the risk of load-shedding.

September 11, 2020 by

System available for transformer monitoring

Pretoria-based industrial technology and solutions provider RTS Africa Technologies (RTS) has recently announced the increased availability of its Gen5 System, developed specifically for transformer oil dissolved gas analysis (DGA) for distribution transformer monitoring.
September 11, 2020 by

Company underlines lithium-ion forklift battery benefits for warehouses

Local industrial lithium-ion battery distributor CHASE Technologies GM Brent Frazer explains that the company’s lithium-ion phosphate (LiFePO4) battery packs for forklifts present a more cost-effective, maintenance-free and environment-friendly option for forklift users. These battery packs provide a reliable power source when compared to the older, traditional lead acid battery option in forklifts used in materials handling for warehouses.
September 11, 2020 by

Battery metals to boom despite widespread Covid-19 disruption

Battery metals, which are used in modern energy efficient electrical products, are playing an increasingly important role in climate change mitigation and the shift towards a lower carbon-intensive future. Battery metals, including lithium, vanadium, copper, cobalt, nickel, lead and graphite are increasingly used in larger-scale battery storage products and in components used to transmit and distribute electricity.
September 11, 2020 by

Mantashe says Nersa’s concurrence with determination opens way for procurement of 11 813 MW …

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe reported on Thursday the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) had provided its concurrence to a Section 34 Ministerial Determination, issued in February, which opened the way for the procurement of  11 813 MW of new electricity capacity. The concurrence notice was the second provide by the regulator this year and came amid a return to the frequent use of load-shedding by Eskom and warnings that the risk of rotational power cuts could worsen unless new capacity was added to supplement that provided by Eskom’s unreliable coal fleet.
September 10, 2020 by

Vivo Energy Investments offers $350m senior notes to repay debt

Vivo Energy Investments has announced an offering of $350-million senior notes, with a maturity of either five or seven years, guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis by Vivo Energy and Vivo Energy Holding. Vivo Energy Investments is a subsidiary of Vivo Energy and is a distributor and retailer of Shell- and Engen-branded fuels and lubricants in Africa.
September 10, 2020 by

Eskom warns of possible blackouts after belt feeding coal to Medupi station snaps

South African power supplier Eskom warned on Thursday it might be forced to resort to rolling blackouts again to ease pressure on the shaky national grid after a conveyor belt feeding coal into its Medupi generation units failed. The State-owned utility, which provides some 95 percent of the country’s electricity, has effected loadshedding intermittently for more than a decade as its ageing infrastructure has struggled to generate enough to meet demand.
September 10, 2020 by

IEA says green hydrogen is ‘ready for big time’ and lists Africa as key production site

Africa has been listed, in a new International Energy Agency (IEA) report, as one of the locations that could emerge as dominant in the production of green hydrogen, which the agency says is required to extend the decarbonisation reach of renewable electricity to industries where the direct use of power is difficult, such as steel manufacturing and aviation. Published on September 10, the IEA’s ‘Energy Technology Perspectives 2020’ report says the global capacity of electrolysers, which produce hydrogen from water and electricity, will need to rise sharply as part of a broader, multi-technology effort to align the global energy system with international climate goals.
September 10, 2020 by

Eskom expects 2021 replacement of generators at nuclear plant

Power utility Eskom said on Thursday it was on track to install six new steam generators at its Koeberg nuclear power plant in 2021, with the first already in transit and expected to arrive in Cape Town later this month. The R4.3-billion project, which was unsuccessfully challenged in court by Westinghouse following its award to then French rival Areva, is seen as crucial for South African attempts to prolong Koeberg’s operations.
September 10, 2020 by

Medupi conveyor belt failure raises risk of load-shedding

State-owned power utility Eskom on September 10 warned of an increased risk of load-shedding following the failure of a conveyor belt feeding coal into the Medupi generation units on September 9. This means the four generation units in service are not able to take in the requisite amount of coal to generate electricity, putting further strain on Eskom’s power supply.
September 10, 2020 by