Green hydrogen could compete with gray in a decade, Engie says

Green hydrogen, a clean energy source made from water and renewable power, could become competitive in a decade, according to French utility Engie. That relies on Europe setting up the necessary regulatory framework to drive up demand and slash costs, Sebastien Arbola, the company’s head of thermal generation and energy supply, said Tuesday in Paris. The “tipping point” for renewable hydrogen to compete with gray hydrogen — which is made from methane and emits carbon — could be in 2030-2035, he said.
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Eskom warns of severely constrained power system

Power utility Eskom is calling on the public to reduce electricity use, as the power system is “severely constrained”, with five generation units at various power stations having failed throughout Tuesday. It notes that no load-shedding is being implemented yet, but warns that if there is any further loss of generation capacity, load-shedding may have to be implemented at short notice.
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Earth & Wire unveils R500bn plan for 20 GW renewables fleet by 2035

Emerging South African energy group Earth & Wire, which aims to sell electricity directly to private customers, is positioning itself to build a 20 GW portfolio of grid-connected wind and solar projects by 2035 at an estimated cost of R500-billion. Business development head Thomas Garner, who is also chairperson of the South African Independent Power Producers Association, reports that the company has secured over 400 000 ha of signed agreements with landowners on properties with sufficient solar and wind resources to meet the company’s target of supplying 30% of South Africa’s new electricity capacity by 2035.
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Bring on non-binary debates for a redefined, realistic just transition, says WCA

A binary, this-or-that debate on technology for a just energy transition is unhelpful and does not consider the unique circumstances for each country in the pursuit of carbonisation, the World Coal Association (WCA) argues. The association’s stance is that it will respect coal users and non-coal users alike, since energy affordability, reliability and development are the key considerations to ponder, and these will differ for each country in the world, WCA CEO Michelle Manook tells Mining Weekly.
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EDF Renewables South Africa secures three wind projects in BW 5

The South African subsidiary of global energy company EDF Renewables has been awarded three wind energy projects in Bid Window (BW) 5 of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme.

EDF Renewables South Africa has been awarded participation in nearly 800 MW of projects in South Africa this year.

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Big business says Eskom resignations would only ‘make a bad situation worse’

Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) says it disagrees with those calling for the resignation of Eskom CEO André de Ruyter and his leadership team following the most recent intense period of load-shedding. In a statement, BLSA noted that the State-owned utility had had ten CEOs in ten years, creating instability that “only served to make a bad situation worse”.
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South Africa must pursue interventions to mitigate energy crisis, BLSA says

While South Africa is on the road to long-term energy stability as business and independent power producers (IPPs) begin construction on various embedded generation projects, the country is probably two years away from a major change in the electricity supply scenario, Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busi Mavuso writes in her weekly newsletter. “Despite progress in opening the way for private companies to more easily build plants up to 100 MW and [a resumption in the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP)], we are facing unprecedented levels of load-shedding, severely disrupting business and our daily lives,” she says.
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UK’s Johnson calls COP26 climate agreement ‘game changing’

The agreement reached Saturday at global climate talks in Glasgow will be pivotal in the fight to stop global warming, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.

The conference hosted by the UK produced a “game-changing agreement that the world needed to see,” Johnson said at a press conference in London on Sunday.

Negotiators from almost 200 countries clinched a deal that broke new ground in the fight against climate change, but punted the hardest decisions into the future.​​

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CSIR says fall in renewables tariffs points to need for higher deployments

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) says the tariffs achieved during the fifth bid window of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) confirm its previous analysis showing that renewable energy is the lowest cost generation option available for South Africa. In late October, Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe announced the names of 25 preferred bidders to build 13 wind and 12 solar projects with a combined capacity of 2 583 MW.
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Western lithium-ion supply chain weakness to slow EV adoption – GlobalData

Data and analytics company GlobalData reports that a weakness of lithium-ion battery materials in Western countries is set to impede electric vehicle (EV) adoption and serve to demonstrate China’s dominance of the EV market.

China dominates the lithium-ion battery supply chain, specifically in terms of battery cells, cathode and anode production and chemical refining.

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