South Africa faces decade of blackouts without gas, Wartsila says

Wartsila Oyj, a Finnish company that makes power plants, expects South Africa to face electricity outages for at least another decade unless it installs as much as $8 billion worth of gas-fired generation capacity. The outages stem from state power utility Eskom Holdings’ failure to adequately invest in new capacity and the maintenance of 14 operating coal-fired power plants. The energy shortages have been exacerbated by the slow ramp up of its two newest plants.
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Embedded generation project pipeline stands at 9 GW – Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa reports that the pipeline of confirmed private embedded generation projects has increased to 100 with a total combined capacity of around 9 000 MW. The President confirmed the figure in a series of written responses to Parliamentary questions posed by Democratic Alliance permanent delegate to the National Council of Provinces from the North West, Carin Visser.
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Bushveld Energy enters reverse takeover deal through the sale of VRFB-H

Aim-listed Bushveld Minerals’ 84%-owned subsidiary Bushveld Energy has entered into a conditional agreement to sell its entire 50.5% interest in Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries Holdings (VRFB-H) to special purpose acquisition company Mustang Energy.

VRFB-H’s main asset is a 50% interest in Enerox Holdings, which, in turn, holds the entire issued share capital of Enerox, an Austria-based vanadium redox flow battery manufacturer.

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Nersa calls for comments on gas, renewable energy and hydrogen partnership strategy

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has invited stakeholders to provide written comments on the issues raised in the consultation document concerning the development of the strategy for a gas, renewable energy and hydrogen partnership in South Africa. The consultation document is intended to assist Nersa in soliciting stakeholder views and perspectives on the prospects of achieving a coordinated development of gas alongside renewable energy and hydrogen in the country’s energy markets.
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Zimbabwe power shortage to worsen as hydro plant halts generation

Zimbabwe’s prolonged power shortage is set to worsen after the entity that manages southern Africa’s biggest dam ordered suspension of electricity generation at its main hydro plant because of a water shortage. In a letter dated November 25 and seen by Reuters, the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) told the Zimbabwe Power Company that the Kariba South hydropower station had used more than its 2022 water allocation and that the Kariba Dam’s usable storage was only 4.6% full.
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Solarise raises $33.4m to expand in Kenya, other African countries

Energy services company Solarise Africa has signed a $33.4-million multi-country commercial and industrial facility with the Facility for Energy Inclusion (FEI) to obtain the necessary funding and flexibility to substantially expand its portfolio in Kenya and other selected African countries. “Throughout 2022, we have significantly grown our footprint and portfolio, and, with this new loan, we will be able to catapult our efforts to advance renewable energy adoption in Africa,” says Solarise Africa CEO and co-founder Jan Albert Valk.
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H2-Industries, Terra Sola sign MoU to provide green power in Africa

Global hydrogen generation and energy storage solutions company H2-Industries has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Swiss developer of integrated renewable energy projects Terra Sola Group. The agreement supports Terra Sola’s development of tailor-made, large-scale integrated solar energy programmes for selected countries across Africa using H2-Industries’ liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHC) technology to provide technological solutions for the storage and release of electrical power for export, use as a local industrial feedstock or for grid stabilisation and/or off-grid power availability.
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Company produces first local EV truck

Electric vehicle (EV) solutions provider Applied Electric Vehicle Energy Reticulation Systems Africa (Aeversa) subsidiary Iron Energy is nearing the completion of the first locally assembled 8 t electric commercial truck. The truck is a multiplatform EV drive train that is chassis agnostic – the drive train can be used in various ladder frame and chassis vehicles.
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Hydrogen engine paves way for net-zero targets

Power technology provider Cummins released its zero-carbon hydrogen internal combustion engine (H2-ICE) concept truck, powered by the B6.7H hydrogen engine, at this year’s International Automobile Exhibition (IAA) transportation conference, which was held from September 20 to 23 in Hannover, Germany. The engine is expected to be released for mass production in 2027, but is going to be produced on a limited scale from 2023.
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Stefanutti sees opportunities in various sectors, swings to interim profit

JSE-listed construction group Stefanutti Stocks reported a profit of R9.25-million for the six months ended August 31, compared with a loss of R188.48-million posted for the six months ended August 31, 2021. Contract revenue from continuing operations decreased to R2.87-billion for the interim period, from R3.15-billion in the prior comparable period, but operating profit improved to R54.03-million, compared with R8.93-million in the prior period.
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