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Early Kusile restart uncertain as Creecy adjudicates emissions appeal

The Department of Fisheries, Forestry and the Environment (DFFE) has confirmed that Minister Barbara Creecy is still adjudicating an appeal of the National Air Quality Officer’s (NAQO’s) decision to postpone a requirement for the Kusile power station to meet Minimum Emission Standards. The NAQO, in concurrence with the Nkangala District Municipality, confirmed on June 25 that it had granted a postponement from June 5, 2023, until March 31, 2025.
September 22, 2023 by

Director spotlights trends in fuel cell technology

Fuel cells are at the forefront of interest within the domain of renewable-energy solutions, as they provide energy at a low cost, with zero emissions, thereby ensuring a meaningful impact on climate change. However, Africa-based specialist mining services provider Ukwazi Sustainable Mining business development director Spencer Eckstein raises inquiries regarding the status of this technology and how one can ascertain whether actual progress is being made.
September 22, 2023 by

Grid investment ‘fully funded’ for next three years, but scale-up requires alternative models

Eskom has indicated that it has sufficient funding for the coming three years for the grid infrastructure investments that will be pursued in line with its Transmission Development Plan, but says additional financing will be required beyond that point and that alternative funding and delivery models may also be required. Speaking following a closed-door grid financing event hosted jointly by government and the JSE, Eskom transmission head Segomoco Scheepers said that the division currently worked on a five-year investment horizon and that it planned to invest R70-bilion over that period on new power lines and transformation capacity.
September 21, 2023 by

More licences approved for transmission company

Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s approval of two more licences required for the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA) to begin operating, when the NTCSA is expected to start operating and what still needs to be done before then. He also discusses Parliament’s call for public comments on the Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill.  
September 21, 2023 by

Vergelegen winery goes off grid

The Vergelegen wine estate, in Somerset West, has installed a solar power plant that has taken it completely off the grid. The plant includes six solar tables, comprising 500 panels that cover 1 400 m², three inverters and a 1 MWh battery. This will ensure the cellar can run on the battery during harvesting, even if there is no sun, the company says.
September 20, 2023 by

Necsa wants to get involved with small modular reactors

The South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) has formally requested Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe to change its mandate, to allow it to become involved in the generation of electricity from nuclear energy. So Necsa CEO Loyiso Tyabashe has told Engineering News in an exclusive interview. Currently, only the State-owned national electricity utility Eskom is permitted to operate nuclear power plants (NPPs). The country has only one NPP, at Koeberg, north of Cape Town. Under South Africa’s current Integrated Resources Plan (IRP), the country is seeking to create 2 500 MW of new nuclear power generating capacity (although no nuclear capacity would come on stream for at least ten years after authorisation was granted). Necsa would like some of that allocation to be assigned to it.
September 20, 2023 by

Gordhan criticises Eskom’s ‘elongated’ restructuring timelines, wants grid company to …

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has criticised Eskom’s “elongated” restructuring timeframes and has called for greater urgency and drive from the utility in completing the remaining processes required to enable the independent grid company to begin trading. Eskom has indicated that the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA), the first of three subsidiaries under the yet-to-be-formed Eskom Holdings scheduled to be operationalised, will begin trading from the start of its new financial year on April 1.
September 20, 2023 by

DRC still has difficulty securing investments in Inga power project – Tshisekedi

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) still has difficulty securing investments for its Inga power project, the president said on Tuesday in New York, adding that the World Bank and China are interested. The multibillion-dollar project, which will harness the power of the Congo River, has been repeatedly delayed by red tape and disagreements between Congo and its partners.
September 20, 2023 by

Drakenstein municipality rolls out new, green switchgear

The Drakenstein municipality, in the Western Cape, has adopted Schneider Electric’s green RM AirSeT switchgear, which it says will reduce the municipality’s carbon footprint by using pure air instead of SF6 gas. The project alleviates the harmful greenhouse gas emissions produced by SF6 gas (sulphur hexafluoride) found in traditional gas-insulated switchgear, which is 23 500 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
September 19, 2023 by

Eskom expects NTCSA to begin trading from April

Eskom expects the remaining suspensive conditions required for the operationalisation of the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA) to be met by the end of its current financial year and for the entity to commence trading from the start of the new financial year, which begins on April 1. Commenting on the decision of the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) to approved, on September 14, the two additional licence applications required for the independent operation of the NTCSA, Eskom said the approvals marked “a significant milestone in the legal separation process of the Transmission Division”.
September 19, 2023 by