Belgium-based international engineering and consultancy group Tractebel has been selected to head a research and innovation consortium, designated Pulsar, to conduct research into dynamic radioactive power systems (RPS), on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA). The RPS being researched would be powered by plutonium-238 (Pu-238). Tractebel was previously awarded a contract by ESA to investigate the practicality of producing Pu-238 in Europe. Pu-238 is not suitable for use in nuclear weapons and most Pu-238 produced over the years (all in Russia or the US) has been used to power spacecraft. The new ESA contract complements, and takes forward, that work.
A Just Energy Transition Partnership Investment Plan (JETP-IP), which will seek to unlock $8.5-billion in concessional climate finance to accelerate South Africa’s transition from coal to renewables and support workers and communities currently reliant on the coal value chain, is expected to be finalised by October for sign-off during the COP27 climate talks in Egypt in November. The JETP-IP, a first draft and revision of which are expected in July and September respectively, is viewed as the crucial next step in the conversion of a Political Declaration signed at the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, last year between South Africa, and the International Partners Group (IPG) of France, Germany, the UK, the US, and the European Union.
Eskom will implement Stage 2 load-shedding between 10:00 and midnight on Wednesday, and between 05:00 and midnight from Thursday to Sunday. The power utility said the load-shedding was due to the breakdown of four generation units on Wednesday morning, which contributed to the capacity constraints.
The Presidency’s Operation Vulindlela (OV) has made markable process on accelerating implementation of priority structural reforms since its establishment in October 2020. Presidency project management office head Rudi Dicks addressed delegates during the Manufacturing Indaba, held in Sandton on June 21, highlighting that much of the constraints mentioned by the private sector within the manufacturing sector, including load-shedding and freight issues, are within the focus areas of OV.
South Africa’s plan to create a power transmission company that will attract the investment needed to strengthen the national grid has been hobbled by its restrictive debt arrangements with parent Eskom Holdings, two people familiar with the situation said. Under the plan to separate the unit, which Eskom presented to its creditors on June 10, the national power utility will extend a R39.9-billion loan to the National Transmission Company of South Africa, or NTCSA. That funding will be guaranteed by the NTCSA’s assets if Eskom, which is R396-billion in debt, doesn’t meet its own obligations.
Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel reports that government is working to find a “pragmatic solution” to the problem where local-content requirements contained in government’s electricity procurement programmes are delaying the construction of utility scale renewable-energy projects. “I’ve asked the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) team to meet with the energy team to see how we can ensure that our localisation goals don’t retard the development of green energy, and that we find ways to speed up processes,” Patel said in response to a question posed by Engineering News on the side-lines of the Manufacturing Indaba.
International exhibition and conference organiser Hyve Group has opened a Johannesburg office as a means to enhance its presence in South Africa and expand opportunities for South African citizens.
Hyve Group, which employs over 650 people in 12 offices globally, organises over 50 trade exhibitions and conferences in 11 countries and more than 20 technology-enabled meeting programmes a year.
The hard to abate sectors currently produce more than a third of the worlds’ climate chaining emissions, which we must sharply curtail if we are to hold global warming to 1.5ºC. Yet, they are integral to humanity and ultimately they ’re playing an integral role in reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and other emissions producers.
Eskom will implement Stage 2 load-shedding every evening between 17:00 and 22:00, from Monday to Thursday. The power utility said the load shedding was due to the continued shortage of generation capacity.
Achieving Africa’s energy and climate goals by 2030, including universal access, will require a more than doubling in energy investment this decade, rising to a yearly rate of $190-billion from 2026 to 2030, a new International Energy Agency (IEA) report shows. It will also require the connection of 90-million people a year, triple the rate of recent years, if Africa is to deliver modern energy services to the 600-million people who currently lack access.
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