Entries by

South Africa should not be pushed into a corner on just energy transition funding – Eskom, SANEDI

While any funding of South Africa’s embattled energy sector is welcome, South Africa should not “be pushed into a corner” on how this money should be spent, says South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI) CEO Dr Zwanani Titus Mathe. “South Africa should not be dictated to on what technologies should be considered. Of source we should consider renewables…but the negative impact may be that we may be told to use this money only for solar or wind, and not for clean coal [projects].
October 18, 2023 by

Africa not a major player in solar energy – yet

All the critical minerals necessary for all renewable and battery energy technologies are found in Africa, highlighted consultancy and data company Rystad Energy senior partner and head of analysis Per Magnus Nysveen. He was addressing the Critical Minerals Africa conference, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on Tuesday. Nysveen defined renewable energy as encompassing geothermal as well as solar and wind power. Batteries were also low carbon energy sources and included both mobile (vehicle) and stationary applications.
October 17, 2023 by

Experts highlight the potential of recoverable energy power generation

Significant additional clean electricity can be generated economically by combining dry and wet cooling technologies at power plants, Industrial Water Cooling (IWC) consulting and research and development manager Dr Hanno Reuter, who is also an extraordinary professor at Stellenbosch University, has said. In a webinar discussion hosted by Creamer Media on October 11, he noted that the combination of recoverable, renewable and conventional energy power generation was a good solution for the power generation industry worldwide.
October 17, 2023 by

Nedbank concludes R2.1bn bond to fund private renewable energy projects

Financial services firm Nedbank has concluded a R2.1-billion Green Private Power Tier 2 Bond, listed on the sustainability segment of the JSE, with the proceeds to focus on notionally funding private renewable energy projects in South Africa. Private renewable energy power projects refer to commercial and utility-scale renewable energy projects with private corporate offtakers. These projects will play a pivotal role in advancing renewable energy capacity, accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy and lending support to the underlying corporates’ own sustainability objectives.
October 17, 2023 by

Ramaphosa says loadshedding corner has been turned as another Kusile unit restarts

African National Congress President Cyril Ramaphosa claims that South Africa “has turned a definite corner as far as loadshedding is concerned”, adding that the levels and frequency of loadshedding are expected to improve during the fourth quarter. In closing remarks following the party’s National Executive Committee meeting, Ramaphosa attributed this claim to the “return of Kusile units, embedded generation by private households and businesses, and demand management”.
October 17, 2023 by

Invest in grids today or face gridlock tomorrow, IEA warns

The International Energy Agency (IEA) is warning that investment in transmission and distribution infrastructure is failing to keep pace with renewables projects, and is leading to a large and growing queue of projects waiting to be connected to the grid globally. In a newly published report titled ‘Electricity Grids and Secure Energy Transitions’, the agency notes that advanced projects with a combined capacity of 1 500 GW, or five times the amount of solar and wind capacity added worldwide in 2022, are currently waiting to be connected to the grid.
October 17, 2023 by

Ramaphosa rules out privatisating State companies

President Cyril Ramaphosa reiterated that his administration wasn’t moving to privatize state-owned companies as the government initiates reforms to clean up their balance sheets and revive their performance. Private-sector investment was necessary to mobilize funds for economic infrastructure given the government’s limited fiscal space, Ramaphosa said at a meeting of his party, the African National Congress. The involvement would be “subject to stringent regulations,” which would enable energy security and exporting of critical goods.
October 17, 2023 by

Sasol, Anglo American Platinum and BMW ink deal to test hydrogen cars in SA

Anglo American Platinum, BMW Group South Africa (BMW SA) and Sasol have partnered to prove that a hydrogen mobility ecosystem can operate successfully within South Africa. The three companies on Monday inked an agreement at the 2023 South African Green Hydrogen Summit in Cape Town that will bring hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) and supporting hydrogen refuelling technology to South Africa. 
October 16, 2023 by

Three coastal provinces move to partner on green hydrogen ahead of finalisation of country strategy

The Eastern, Northern and Western Cape provinces have agreed to team up in a bid to position South Africa as a global hub for the production of green hydrogen and derivative products, as well as to produce the components required in the green hydrogen value chain, ahead of the finalisation of the long-awaited Green Hydrogen Commercialisation Strategy. The three coastal provinces are all playing host to potential multi-billion rand green-hydrogen projects and have been working separately on strategies and roadmaps in an effort to capture the jobs, growth and industrialisation opportunities that could flow should the projects materialise.
October 15, 2023 by