State-owned utility Eskom has confirmed to Engineering News on June 23 that 18 companies have been selected from the bids received for the lease of Eskom-owned land in Mpumalanga, which has been earmarked for independently developed renewable energy generation projects. At this stage, no contracts have been signed because the companies that have been selected must first obtain environmental-impact assessment approval.
Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele said on Thursday that while Cabinet welcomed a significant drop in Covid-19 cases in the country, it is urging more South Africans to vaccinate against the virus, as South Africa joins the many countries that have done away with mask wearing. Joining Gungubele at a media briefing was Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla, who gave an update on the late night gazette which saw government repeal major Covid-19 regulations on mask-wearing, gathering limits and travel requirements.
UK development finance institution British International Investment (BII) has committed $200-million over the next several years to help fund hydropower projects in Africa. This would be the largest investment in hydropower by BII in its 74-year history.
Tensions are rising at Eskom, with the struggling South African electricity supplier confirming protests at a number of power plants following a breakdown in wage negotiations. Groups at six coal-fired stations “have blocked roads leading to some of the power stations, which hampers the movement of people and goods into or outside of the facilities,” spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said in a text message on Thursday. “While some incidents of intimidation have been reported, the protesters are largely peaceful at this stage.”
Integrated primary vanadium producer and energy storage solutions provider Bushveld Minerals has secured funding for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of the R113-million Vametco hybrid mini-grid, which is owned by Bushveld Minerals’ 84%-owned energy subsidiary, Bushveld Energy. Bushveld Energy has completed the development and achieved financial close for a 3.5 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plus a 1 MW/4 MWh vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) hybrid mini-grid project for Vametco, which will operate as a funded independent power producer (IPP).
Some of the critical projects to be implemented over the short-term under the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) between South Africa and various other countries, including the US and the UK, may start before the next United Nations (UN) Climate Change conference, or COP27, early in November, confirmed Presidential Climate Finance Task Team (PCFTT) head Daniel Mminele on June 22.
He hosted a media briefing alongside the UK’s COP26 envoy and International Partners Group chairperson John Murton to update stakeholders on where the JETP stands.
Eskom CEO André de Ryuter reports that the utility will host its first roundtable with local and international energy experts on Friday June 24 to discuss solutions to the country’s electricity crisis and ongoing load-shedding. Speaking during a briefing to explain a decision to extend rotational power cuts, owing to a combination of coal plant breakdowns, delays in returning Koeberg Unit 2 to service, as well as a need to replenish diesel stocks at the open-cycle gas turbines and pump water into the upper dams at its pumped storage facilities, De Ruyter stressed that Eskom had no role in crafting energy policy.
State-owned electricity utility Eskom has confirmed that it has awarded battery energy storage system (BESS) contracts to two supplies for projects with a combined capacity of 199 MW/833 MWh. CEO André de Ruyter confirmed on Wednesday that the projects, which are being funded through a World Bank loan, will cost R11-billion.
The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) announced on Tuesday that three proposed design concepts for nuclear fission power on the surface of the Moon had been selected for further development. Nasa was working jointly with the US Department of Energy (DOE) to develop nuclear technologies for use in space, and the three contracts, each worth some $5-million, would be awarded through the DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory. The aim was to develop initial design concepts for 40-kW class nuclear fission power plants, that would have an operational life of at least ten years. The 12-month contracts were being awarded to three consortia. They were – Lockheed Martin (consortium leader), BWXT and Creare; Westinghouse (leader) and Aerojet Rocketdyne; and IX (a joint venture of Intuitive Machines and X-Energy, and consortium leader), Maxar and Boeing.
State-owned utility Eskom CEO André de Ruyter wants Mpumalanga to be the focal point for investment in renewable energy generation capacity to leverage the province’s well established transmission grid and to mitigate the potential for mass unemployment in the province as coal-fired power stations are systematically decommissioned over the next decade. While it has been well-established that the best naturally-occurring wind and solar resources in South Africa are located in the Northern Cape province, the region is poorly served by the existing transmission grid.
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