Law firm suggests govt recognise role of storage in energy regulation

As South Africa takes its first steps towards a just transition and as decarbonisation becomes a strategic imperative for heavy electricity users, the role of energy storage and hybrid technologies is becoming more relevant, says law firm Allen & Overy South Africa.

Electricity storage paired with renewable energy generation can contribute to many of the challenges faced by the country’s electricity infrastructure.

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Eskom confirms winter load-shedding risk and warns on diesel costs

Electricity utility Eskom has again highlighted the risk of load-shedding during the current winter period, during which it will rely heavily on the country’s expensive diesel-fuelled open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs) to either avoid rotational cuts or reduce the intensity of such cuts. Transmission MD Segomoco Scheppers again confirmed that there could be as many as 104 days of load-shedding during the period from May to the end of September, with the utility having already implemented 32 days of load-shedding from January 1 to May 11.
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South Korea to again boost nuclear power

New Republic of (South) Korea President Yoon Suk-yeol (inaugurated on Tuesday) is committed to his policy of strengthening the country’s nuclear power sector, reversing his predecessor’s policy (adopted in 2017) of phasing nuclear power out. Investing in nuclear energy formed part of the platform on which Yoon fought the election. The President’s position was reaffirmed by his nominee for the post of Industry Minister, Lee Chang-yang, during his parliamentary confirmation hearing. “I will seek measures to reasonably utilize nuclear energy, which is a major means of energy security and carbon neutrality, and to boost the competitiveness of the sector to actively support its exports,” he affirmed.
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Stage 2 load-shedding to be implemented from 17:00 to 22:00

State power utility Eskom said it would implement Stage 2 rotational power cuts from 17:00 to 22:00 on Wednesday due to the failure of three generation units. This would be the third day that Eskom has implemented load-shedding from 17:00 to 22:00.
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How to speed up the rollout of small nuclear power plants

Building big, conventional nuclear power plants is slow and expensive. That’s one reason the industry is staking its future on a new generation of smaller advanced reactors. Still in development, these offer the promise of carbon-free energy and could back up the ebbs and flows of renewable power in clean grids of the future. As Russia’s war in Ukraine galvanizes Western countries to break their reliance on Russian energy exports, in part by accelerating green technologies that will replace fossil fuels, one solution could be boosting the deployment of nuclear energy. Advanced nuclear startup Oklo Inc. says it could build a new plant in about one year. It wouldn’t be big, but it could be ready quickly if the US was willing to fast-track the regulatory process, said Oklo’s CEO Jacob DeWitte.
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Uganda acquires land for East Africa’s first nuclear power plant

Uganda said it acquired land for the construction of East Africa’s first nuclear power plant as the continent’s top exporter of coffee beans attempts to expand its electricity generation capacity multi-fold. The Minister of State for Energy Okasai Sidronius Opolot made the announcement in a statement without identifying the site. The nation in 2017 said that it planned to build a 2 000 MW nuclear power plant by 2032.
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Another renewables installation record forecast for 2022, but higher costs to linger

A record 295 GW of new renewables capacity was installed globally in 2021 and the International Energy Agency (IEA) is forecasting that installations will rise to about 320 GW this year, despite elevated costs for both solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind. Solar PV is forecast to account for 60% of the 2022 increase, with the commissioning of 190 GW, which would represent a 25% year-on-year gain. The technology is also on course to reach yearly installations of 200 GW in 2023.
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US in ‘race to the top’ to solve energy supply chain vulnerabilities – Fernandez

The US has three international energy priorities, and they also relate to Africa, says US State Department Undersecretary for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment, José Fernandez. Speaking at the Inveesting in African Mining Indaba 2022 on Tuesday, Fernandez said these priorities were integral to the US’s support for high standard economic growth and development around the world.
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New infrastructure vulnerable to climate change owing to mismanagement, corruption

New infrastructure was just as vulnerable to climate change as ageing infrastructure, said South African Local Government Association (Salga) senior climate change adviser Slindile Maphumulo on May 10. She explained that, while ageing infrastructure was vulnerable to being damaged or destroyed during extreme weather events, new infrastructure was equally at risk as a result of being built poorly, slowly or not at all owing to poor tender systems, the appointment of incompetent service providers and contractors, black economic empowerment systems, inexperienced engineers and, most of all, rampant corruption.
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Groups welcome expiry of enviro authorisation for proposed coal-fired power station

The Pretoria High Court confirmed, on May 3, that the environmental authorisation for the planned 600 MW KiPower coal-fired power station had expired, meaning the proposed power station cannot be built.

KiPower was intended to be built outside Emalahleni, in Mpumalanga – a region with poor air quality as a result an existing fleet of coal-fired power stations in the vicinity, Sasol’s coal-to-liquids plant in Secunda and the Natref refinery, in Sasolburg, notes environmental groups groundWork and the Centre for Environmental Rights.

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