South Africa must manage its transition away from coal-fired power generation systematically and not rush a switch to renewable energy sources, Mining and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe said on Thursday. “I am not saying coal for ever, … I am saying let’s manage our transition step by step rather than being emotional,” Mantashe told a mining conference, when asked how China’s pledge to not build new coal power stations abroad would affect South Africa.
The tenth yearly wind industry conference Windaba, which opened on October 7, marks a decade of wind power in South Africa and the industry has matured to the point that it is ready and able to build an additional 14.4 GW of wind power capacity over the next decade, says industry organisation South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) chairperson Mercia Grimbeek. “Our celebration of ten years of wind energy in South Africa brings us to a confluence as our industry stands ready for the next decade of growth that will be characterised as a resurgence and a period of exponential growth in our country’s energy narrative,” she notes.
Diversified industrial group Thyssenkrupp Uhde South Africa and German uranium mining company Wismut have been appointed to execute a prefeasibility study for a renewable underground pumped hydroelectric energy storage (Ruphes) project on a specific but undisclosed site owned by a South African mining company. Thyssenkrupp Uhde South Africa is collaborating with international specialist companies to facilitate mine repurposing and has already signed a cooperation agreement with Wismut.
JSE-listed platinum-group metals (PGMs) miner Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) has selected the Pele Green Energy – EDF Renewables South Africa consortium as the preferred supplier to build a 100 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant at its Mogalakwena mine, in Limpopo. Pele Green Energy develops, owns, procures, builds and operates renewable energy power projects, while EDF Renewables South Africa has global expertise in renewable energy technologies such as wind, solar PV and battery storage.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has decided to join the October 7 national strike launched by Congress of South African Trade Union (Cosatu).
The NUM has, therefore, issued a call to its members in the mining, energy construction and metals sectors to join planned activities across the country – in accordance with Covid-19 guidelines – or withdraw their labour by staying at home on the day, as part of the Global Day for Decent Work.
Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter said on Tuesday that the message of the climate envoys who visited South Africa in the run up to the COP26 climate talks in Scotland was that there is “substantial concessional financing available” to enable South Africa to pursue a just energy transition. He indicated, however, that the initial focus would likely be on supporting Eskom to build the infrastructure required for decarbonisation, as well as to support vulnerable workers and communities, rather than to address Eskom’s legacy debt.
The South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) held its fourth industry academic conference – WindAc Africa 2021 – on October 5, with a keynote address delivered by Danish Energy Agency (DEA) director-general Kristoffer Böttzauw.
The DEA is a SAWEA strategic partner and a keen supporter of the wind energy sector.
Eskom Holdings, South Africa’s coal-reliant power utility, has become the world’s biggest emitter of sulphur dioxide, a pollutant linked to ailments ranging from asthma to heart attacks, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) said. Eskom produced 1 600 kilotons of the pollutant in 2019, the latest year for which comparable data is available, according to the report released on Tuesday by CREA, an air-pollution research organization. That was more than any company, and the total emission of the power sector of any country with the exception of India.
China Molybdenum Co (CMOC) is looking to tap more hydropower projects and potentially use solar energy as it expands its production of copper and cobalt in Democratic Republic of Congo, its vice-chairperson said. Steele Li, who is also chief investment officer at CMOC , said the company was committed to hydropower through the supply arrangement it inherited when it bought a majority stake in the giant Tenke Fungurume mine in Congo in 2016.
Two nuclear technology companies, the Anglo-Dutch U-Battery and the UK’s Cavendish Nuclear, have unveiled a full-scale mock-up of U-Battery’s advanced modular reactor (AMR) design. The mock-up includes the reactor vessel, the intermediate heat exchanger vessel, and the connecting duct (which is U-shaped). The creation of the mock-up was made possible by funding from the UK’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, provided under its Advanced Manufacturing and Materials …
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