In this opinion piece, ecologist, environmental consultant and conservation biologist Dr Rob Simmons writes about black blade mitigation can help wind farms to prevent thousands of bird deaths each year. The renewable energy industry promises green energy that comes with numerous benefits to the planet. Given that South Africa is blessed with abundant resources in both solar and wind, there is little reason for us to be so dependent on fossil fuels that continue to warm the planet. Indeed, South Africa contributes about half of the Africa’s total greenhouse-gas emissions, through the burning of dirty coal and other fossil fuels. This has given us a bad reputation as a major polluter and we are the fourteenth worst emitter of greenhouse gases in the world.
The effects of Eskom’s maintenance programme – which is expected to ease the risk of load-shedding- would be felt by April next year as the power utility works to ensure the long-term sustainability of its infrastructure, its CEO Andre de Ruyter said on Thursday. “We anticipate that by April next year we will see the first benefits of enhanced maintenance,” said De Ruyter, adding that by September 2021, the power utility would have significantly reduced the risk of load-shedding.
As part of State-owned utility Eskom’s turnaround strategy, it is implementing five urgent and interdependent priorities, Eskom Group CE André de Ruyter told delegates on the second day of the virtual Joburg Indaba on October 8. Firstly, the utility is aiming for operational stability, which would considerably reduce the risk of load-shedding, he stated.
Energy expert Clyde Mallinson is calling on government to urgently overhaul its Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP), which he says not only fails to address the country’s immediate electricity needs, but will also lock in dirty and expensive energy for the next 20 years. The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy formally initiated the procurement process for 2 000 MW of so-called emergency power under the RMIPPPP on August 23 when the request for proposals (RFP) bid documentation was made available online for a nonrefundable fee of R25 000.
The World Bank expects South Africa’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic to be weak relative to most other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, forecasting an economic expansion of only 2.6% in 2021 on the back of a massive 7.2% contraction this year. In its latest ‘Africa’s Pulse’ publication, the bank attributed the sharp fall in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020 to South Africa’s “strict national lockdown” and warned that future local lockdowns could stymie the economic recovery.
Solar power capacity and energy generation is rapidly increasing and has, over the last decade, become one of the fastest growing sources of renewable energy in the world. As a result of technological advances, sharp declines in costs, improved policies and growing concerns over climate change, renewable energy has been placed front and centre on both the public and private agendas.
The Perdekraal East Wind Farm project has completed its grid code tests – the final milestone before achieving its commercial operations date (COD). This comes almost two years after construction began at the site.
Russia’s State-owned nuclear group, Rosatom, has announced that it has joined the United Nations (UN) Global Compact. This is the world’s biggest corporate social responsibility and sustainable development initiative, having more than 13 000 member companies from more than 160 countries. “The highest social standards, as well as ecological responsibility and safety principles have historically have a part of the nuclear industry paradigm,” highlighted Rosatom director-general Alexey Likhachev. “Support of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals is a crucial aspect of Rosatom’s corporate strategy.”
French nuclear group Framatome has announced that it has opened its new uranium recovery facility at its nuclear fuel manufacturing site at Richland in the US state of Washington. The new facility cost $20-million, took three years to build and covers 11 000 ft2 (nearly 1 022 m2). The new facility is equipped with the latest technologies and processes to recover uranium from the fuel manufacturing process. ‘Scrapped’ uranium is recovered from the fuel fabrication feed streams and then converted into uranium dioxide powder. This uranium dioxide is then re-used in the manufacture of nuclear fuel.
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has been granted leave to appeal the July 28 High Court decision relating to the recovery of R69-billion of government equity, which the court judged had been illegally deducted by Nersa from Eskom’s allowable revenue for the period 2019/20 to 2021/22. The injection comprised three R23-billion-a-year tranches and, in her judgment, Judge Fayeeza Kathree-Setiloane said that the first R23-billion should be immediately added back during the 2021/22 financial year.
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