Dube-Ncube congratulates CHEM Energy for opening S Africa’s first fuel cell company

KwaZulu-Natal Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs MEC Nomusa Dube-Ncube has congratulated CHEM ENERGY, a subsidiary of Taiwanese conglomerate CHEM Corporation, which has opened its $200-million fuel cell production factory in KwaZulu-Natal at the Dube TradePort Special Economic Zone. “This represents a milestone accomplishment for foreign investment, and we are excited to team up with CHEM and industry to help rapidly expand the adoption of this important technology and the growth of highly skilled jobs in this new industry sector,” said Dube-Ncube. 
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Bushveld creates new entity to provide vanadium electrolyte rental option

Aim-listed integrated primary vanadium producer and energy storage provider Bushveld Minerals, which owns high-grade vanadium assets in South Africa, has formed a special purpose company in partnership with Invinity Energy Systems (Invinity), named Vanadium Electrolyte Rental Limited (VERL).

VERL will provide a vanadium electrolyte rental option to Invinity’s customers.

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BLSA implores govt to take on energy, spectrum policy with equal urgency as pandemic

In her latest weekly newsletter, Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busi Mavuso questions why government could implement “urgent” policies for the Covid-19 crises, but not for energy or spectrum allocation, which are also long-standing urgent issues.

“The State acted fast [at the start of Covid-19], pulled together experts and worked hard to analyse the best options and then implement them to slow the spread of the disease. We had a glimpse of what is possible.

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Sasol seeks carbon-utilisation solutions for South African operations

Energy and chemicals group Sasol has initiated a process through which it aims to identify potential partners for the development and demonstration of technologies that can utilise the carbon dioxide (CO2) produced at its South African operations as part of a broader strategy to lower its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A CO2 utilisation request for information (RFI) was issued on September 4 and can be accessed by emailing Sasol at CO2utilisation@sasol.com.
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Eskom tightens reins on power station managers

The Eskom board has pledged its support for group CE André de Ruyter’s decision, on September 3, to suspend the Tutuka and Kendal power station managers, pending disciplinary inquiries.

The decision was taken after load-shedding was escalated from Stage 2 to Stage 4 on September 2 and 3.

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SA’s Eskom suspends managers over power station breakdowns

South Africa’s Eskom said on Friday it had suspended managers at two of its power stations after breakdowns which forced the utility to ramp up rolling blackouts earlier this week to avoid tripping the national grid. Eskom, which has implemented rotational powercuts on and off for more than a decade due to infrastructure failures largely blamed on years of inadequate maintenance, said its group chief executive André de Ruyter suspended the managers at the Tutuka and Kendal stations on Thursday morning pending disciplinary inquiries. 
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World-first heat pump to launch at Electra

Krugersdorp heat pump manufacturer EMS Holdings will officially launch its world-first 200 ℓ low-pressure, integrated heat pump alongside its official distributor, ACDC, at Electra Mining Africa 2020 Connect from September 7 to 11. “For the first time in a long time, we have something that is uniquely indigenous to South Africa. It is a South African-engineered and -manufactured product, which contributes to job creation, especially if we expand our factory,” says EMS director Franco Diederiks.
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Load-shedding to move to Stage 3 on Friday

Power utility Eskom announced on Thursday afternoon that it would implement Stage 3 load-shedding from 08:00 to 22:00 on Friday. Load-shedding moved from Stage 2 to Stage 4 on Wednesday afternoon.
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Opinion: Wake up, the sun is shining

In this opinion piece, South African Photovoltaic Industry Association (SAPVIA) chairperson Wido Schnabel writes that the country has everything it needs to not only work its way out of the recession that is coming, but to actually improve the situation for every individual and elevate the country’s standing internationally. In 1992, the phrase, “It’s the economy, stupid” was painted by James Carville, Bill Clinton’s political strategist, on the walls of the presidential campaign office. With …
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Rolls-Royce French unit wins Chinese nuclear contract

UK-based global industrial technology group Rolls-Royce has been awarded a multi-million euro contract to supply Neutron Flux Monitoring Systems to two nuclear reactors being built in China. The contract is from the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) and will be executed by Rolls-Royce Instrumentation and Controls (I&C), which is based in Grenoble in France. The exact value of the contract has not been released. “For more than 25 years, we have been collaborating with CNNC in China,” pointed out Rolls-Royce Civil Nuclear France business unit director Stéphane Lessi. “We are delighted to have signed this new contract, which is further proof of the confidence that CNNC places in our I&C technologies and in our people.”
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