The fourth International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Nuclear Energy Management (NEM) school for Africa was held in Cape Town, from November 13 to November 24, the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) has highlighted. Necsa hosted the school, on behalf of South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy. “Skills development is one of our key strategic priorities as an organisation, [so] we are therefore proud to be part of NEM school,” affirmed Necsa Group CEO Loyiso …
The upcoming 2023 United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference, or Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, more commonly referred to as COP28, will be an important opportunity for South Africa to develop global goodwill in support of the country’s energy transition and translate it into flows of investment to fund the infrastructure needed to transition South Africa’s economy, private sector lobby group Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busisiwe Mavuso has said. This year’s event will be the twenty-eighth UN Climate Change Conference and is scheduled to be held from November 30 to December 12 at the Expo City in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.
Eskom is forecasting a de-escalation in the intensity of rotational power cuts for the coming week following the traumatic return of Stage 6 on Friday November 24 and complaints in certain distribution areas, notably Johannesburg, that the duration and frequency of the latest cuts exceeded those experienced during previous Stage 6 episodes. The utility announced that loadshedding would be reduced to Stage 4 from 12:00 on Sunday November 26 until 5:00 on Monday November 27, when Stage 3 cuts would be implemented.
Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa attributed the “unwelcome” ramp up in the intensity of loadshedding to Stage 6 to a need for Eskom to rebuild its emergency reserves that had been depleted by the failure of large coal units during the week and a 1 500 MW spike in demand, which was attributed to the heat-wave conditions affecting parts of the country. Eskom implemented Stage 6 loadshedding at midday on November 24, a period that coincided with the yearly Black Friday retail event, during which shoppers flock to malls to take advantage of price specials.
Karpowership South Africa (SA), the local entity of Turkish company Karpowership, has welcomed the granting of an environmental authorisation (EA) for its Saldanha Bay project by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE). It says this is another step forward for the company to supply power to the South African grid through the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP).
Creamer Media editor Terence Creamer discusses the lagging procurement of new electricity generation and addition of crucial grid infrastructure, as well as the dire situation at Transnet’s ports and rail systems.
The associations representing the wind and solar sectors as well as independent power producers (IPPs) more generally are eagerly awaiting a proposed curtailment addendum to Eskom’s Grid Connection Capacity Assessment (GCCA), which is published yearly to provide connection visibility for new utility scale generators. The latest GCCA was published at the end of October and states that, while there is still 19.9 GW of capacity available, all capacity has been absorbed in the Eastern, Western and Northern Cape provinces, as well as Eskom’s Hydra Central grid area, which borders the Cape provinces and the Free State.
Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA) says it will invest R100-million in Phase 2 of a solar power project at its East London production plant, in the Eastern Cape. An additional 22 847 photovoltaic solar panels will be installed to convert sunlight into electricity, and to contribute to reducing the company’s carbon footprint.
Mineral Resources and Energy Deputy Minister Dr Nobuhle Nkabane has emphasised the need to invest in science, technology and innovation to grow South Africa’s economy and to address the country’s well-documented energy challenges. She was speaking on the first day of the South African National Energy Development Institute’s (SANEDI’s) first yearly energy conference, which is being held this week, in Johannesburg.
The South African Petroleum Industry Association (Sapia) says the ongoing loadshedding crisis has significantly impacted on its members, with widespread power outages affecting various sectors of its business operations, with substantial implications. Among the areas of business most affected by loadshedding, Sapia reports that the purchase and operation of generators at operating facilities such as depots and service stations have contributed significantly.
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