The South African National Energy Development Institute (SANEDI) is rolling out 26 000 m2 of cool roofing technology in the City of Cape Town as part of the Cool Roofs and Insulation Collaboration. The purpose of the roll out is to demonstrate the power of passive cooling when cool coatings are used in conjunction with insulation.
Aim-listed Bushveld Minerals continues to progress with the hybrid minigrid project being developed at the Vametco vanadium mine, near Brits, on the Western Limb of the Bushveld Complex in South Africa.
The project comprises 3.5 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) generation and 4 MWh of vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) storage.
The University of Pretoria (UP) will, for the next month, provide training for technical and vocational education and training college graduates on hydrogen fuel cell systems.
The training, which is provided in partnership with Bambili Energy, the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation and the Energy & Water Sector Education Training Authority (EWSeta), is expected to end on December 11.
Energy and chemicals group Sasol, which is coming under increasing pressure to reduce its carbon emissions, reports that climate change is now “front and centre” in its unfolding ‘strategic reset’, which will involve a transition away from coal to gas, renewable energy and green hydrogen. In South Africa, the company converts coal, and some gas, into a range of liquid fuels and chemicals using processes that also emit more than 62-million tons of greenhouse-gas emissions yearly. Its Secunda complex, in Mpumalanga, contributes more than 56-million tons of those yearly emissions alone.
Assurance, advisory and tax services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) reports – through its newly released Africa Oil & Gas Review, titled Energising a New Tomorrow – that the rampant spread of the Covid-19 pandemic globally has resulted in galvanising of commitments to a green energy transition.
PwC energy strategy and infrastructure director James Mackay says the Covid-19 pandemic has played “havoc” in global economies and energy markets, with oil being shown to be particularly vulnerable. “In response, the developed world has accelerated the renewable energy transition through greening policy, economic stimulus and investment.”
Absa is mulling the roll-out of a finance mechanism for electric vehicles (EVs) that will incorporate a solar home installation to charge that vehicle, says Absa Vehicle and Asset Finance (AVAF) business analytics and strategy head Henry Botha. However, before that can happen, South Africa’s EV car park needs to grow significantly, providing economies of scale to the banking sector for EV financing solutions.
South Africa emerged as the second worst performer of the G20 non-Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (non-OECD) member countries, according to a November 10 report, titled ‘Doubling Back and Doubling Down: G20 Scorecard on Fossil Fuel Funding’.
The report ranks countries according to seven indicators – transparency, pledges, public money for coal, oil and gas, fossil fuel-based power (both production and consumption), as well as how support has changed over time.
Peer-to-peer solar leasing platform Sun Exchange has launched a crowd sale for Phase 1 of a multiphase 1.9 MW solar and storage project for fresh produce exporter Nhimbe Fresh, in Zimbabwe.
This will be the largest Sun Exchange solar installation to date and the first outside of South Africa.
New additions of renewable-energy capacity worldwide will increase to a record level of almost 200 GW this year, shrugging off the demand slump that accompanied the Covid-19 crisis and which negatively affected the demand for fossil fuels. In addition, a new International Energy Agency (IEA) report points to an even stronger growth trajectory for the coming five years, underpinned by ongoing cost reductions and sustained policy support. The IEA, critics caution, has historically underestimated the growth of renewables and overestimated the role of fossil fuels and nuclear.
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (Nersa’s) electricity subcommittee (ELS) will consider a request for consultation on concurrence with a Section 34 Ministerial determination for the procurement of 2 500 MW of nuclear capacity when it meets on Wednesday November 11. Fulltime member of the regulator for electricity regulation Nhlanhla Gumede tells Engineering News that the ELS “will be considering the request [from Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe] for consultation on the Section 34 determination for the nuclear build programme”.
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