An expert review team of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has reported that Morocco has considerable capability regarding its emergency response and preparedness (EPR) for nuclear emergencies. The team completed its Emergency Preparedness Review (EPREV) mission late last week. The IAEA review mission was sent to Morocco at the invitation of the country’s government. Hosted by the Moroccan Agency for Nuclear and Radiological Safety and Security (abbreviated to AMSSNuR in French), the team was composed of six members, from Canada, New Zealand, Spain, Sudan, the US and the IAEA itself. The mission leader was Health Canada Environmental and Radiation Health Services director-general Brian Ahier.
Business Leadership South Africa CEO Busi Mavuso emphasises in her latest newsletter the importance of an investment plan being presented by a South African delegation at COP27 this week, for the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP).
The twenty-seventh Conference of the Parties is being hosted in Egypt from November 6 to 18.
Setting a recovery in Eskom’s energy availability factor (EAF) to 75% as a key performance indicator (KPI) for the board and the executive is not only open to manipulation but is also the wrong measure in a context where the undermaintained coal fleet no longer offers the cheapest and quickest way out of loadshedding. In fact, energy analyst Clyde Mallinson, who has done extensive modelling of the coal fleet’s performance using Eskom data, argues that sticking with this KPI will “set Eskom up for failure” and will stymie the transition to an electricity supply industry that is able to provide reliable and affordable power for all South Africans, rather than the current trajectory that points to price and supply “bifurcation”.
President Cyril Ramaphosa says the $8.5-bilion (R128-billion) in concessional climate financing on offer from various developed countries to South Africa will play a “catalytic” role in supporting the implementation of the country’s larger $99-billion (R1.5-trillion) Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET IP) over the coming five years. However, far more domestic and international funding is required, and the composition of that funding will also need to be more grant-heavy if the just components of the transition are to be realised. Releasing the JET IP for public comment only two days before the start of the COP27 climate talks in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, Ramaphosa said that South Africa would continue to “agitate” for additional climate funding and more grant funding, including from the initial Just Energy Transition Partnership, or JETP, participants of France, Germany, the UK, the US and the European Union.
Stage 1 loadshedding will continue to be implemented daily from 05:00 to 16:00 until Sunday, Eskom said on Friday. Meanwhile, Stage 2 loadshedding will also continue to be implemented daily at 16:00 to 05:00 until Monday.
Stage 1 loadshedding will continue to be implemented daily from 05:00 to 16:00 until Sunday, Eskom said on Friday. Meanwhile, Stage 2 loadshedding will also continue to be implemented daily at 16:00 to 05:00 until Monday.
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research’s (CSIR’s) solar photovoltaic (PV) module testing laboratory, built on site at its campus, in Pretoria, boasts equipment, expertise and capacity to undertake accelerated reliability stress testing on PV modules to ensure their quality and reliability. The South African National Accreditation System-accredited lab is able to undertake 16 testing methods.
Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses the $497-million loan extended to South Africa for the repowering and repurposing of the Komati power station; the main elements of the repowering and repurposing project; and whether this is the start of a funding trend for South Africa’s energy transition.
South Africa’s request for a $497-million (about R9-billion) to decommission and repower the Komati coal-fired power plant using renewables and batteries has been approved by the World Bank Group board of executive directors. The last Komati unit was shut at midday on October 31, signalling what Eskom said would be the start of a repowering and repurposing of the site into a renewables, storage, manufacturing and training hub.
Solomon Kebede looks concerned as he stares at the machine piercing the dark, moist soil of Ethiopia’s countryside. The drill has sunk a hole more than 450 m deep and found nothing. Yet Kebede doesn’t despair; he has faith that the heat must be there. “When drilling geothermal wells, you send your mind and heart to a place you don’t know, deep in the Earth’s core,” he says. “I’m part of the generation that’s trying to exploit these resources.”
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