With the South African government’s Integrated Resource Plan encouraging renewable-energy integration, battery energy storage systems (BESS) are becoming a critical component in the country’s energy mix, supporting grid-tied and off-grid installations, says energy solutions specialists I-G3N technical manager Taole Tsoehlisi. The adoption of BESS in the country is growing, driven by the need to stabilise the grid and provide backup power during loadshedding.
State-owned electricity utility Eskom, with the South African government, has made significant progress in supporting battery energy storage systems (BESS), which is pivotal in ensuring energy security, load shifting and grid stabilisation at utility scale in South Africa, says independent power producer (IPP) ENGIE South Africa flexible generation senior business developer Shahil Juggernath. Eskom is a key early adopter, with over 300 MW planned for Phase 1 and Phase 2 of its BESS implementation project. These large-scale utility batteries will be installed at strategic points across the grid.
State-owned electricity utility Eskom is leading the large-scale commercial rollout of battery energy storage system (BESS) technology in South Africa, aiming to demonstrate its feasibility and benefits, with Phase 1 currently under way and Phase 2 in development, says Eskom generation group executive Bheki Nxumalo. Currently, the Eskom BESS rollout programme is the largest to be implemented in South Africa and entails 1 440 MWh distributed BESS with 60 MW solar PV.
Eskom has signed a R125-million grant agreement with Agence Française de Développement (AFD) to support the development of the proposed Tubatse pumped storage system project, located in the Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality in Limpopo. The 1.5 GW Tubatse project, which would be pursued as a public-private partnership, could comprise four 375 MW units and have a storage capacity of 21 GWh.
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has called on stakeholders wanting to make oral presentations on Eskom’s Sixth Multi-Year Price Determination (MYPD6) to submit their requests to do so immediately. Nersa is gearing up to conduct nationwide public hearings on the revenue application from November 18 until December 4, starting in Cape Town and concluding in Gauteng.
The newly appointed head of Scatec’s sub-Saharan Africa business, Alberto Gambacorta, says the group is pursuing a 5 GW pipeline of renewable energy and storage opportunities in the region and especially South Africa, which is already the Norwegian group’s global hub for engineering and operations. Gambacorta, who was named GM for Scatec sub-Saharan Africa on November 6, tells Engineering News that the region remains a priority market for the Oslo-listed company, where it has invested about $2.5-billion since 2011.
Africa was well placed to participate in the emerging global hydrogen economy, South African Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa highlighted on Tuesday. He was addressing the African Energy Week conference, being held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. Africa’s solar and wind resources positioned the continent as a very favourable place to produce green hydrogen. He further pointed out that a number of green hydrogen projects were already under development on the continent. Europe, Japan and South Korea were all likely to import large quantities of green hydrogen from Africa.
In light of the world’s population being estimated to grow by at least 1.7-billion by 2050 and the fact that about 4.5-billion people already do not have sufficient access to energy, TotalEnergies outlines in its latest Energy Outlook a new scenario that reflects the current trajectory of various countries up to 2030.
This scenario, which includes Total’s anticipated technological development and public policies globally, enables the company to present the expected evolution of the energy system in future, in line with current trends and the efforts still required to achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
South Africa will use its position as Chair of the G20 (the group of 19 major global economies plus the African Union and the European Union) next year to champion Africa’s energy priorities on the global stage. So assured Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa in his keynote address on the first day of the African Energy Week conference and exhibition, being held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. He affirmed that accessibility, affordability and sustainability had to be energy priorities for the continent. Africa needed affordable clean energy, with the aim of creating a resilient energy system across the continent.
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) has urged the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) to reject Eskom’s latest revenue application, which Outa says “displays a cavalier disregard” for the negative economic and socials impacts of yet more above-inflation hikes. In its formal written submission to Nersa, the non-profit organisation warns that the price of electricity “is spiralling out of control”, and argues that a new dedicated effort is required to tackle energy poverty, access and affordability as has been done with loadshedding.
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