Workers at the Richards Bay Coal Terminal in South Africa rejected its latest wage offer and will continue to strike, according to the main labor union at the port. Members of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union lowered their demand to a one-year 7% basic salary increase and a housing allowance, said Bheki Sithole, the union’s regional secretary. RBCT, the biggest coal export facility on the continent, offered a minimum 6% annual increase for three years. Volumes shipped at RBCT have dropped to the lowest level in decades because state-owned ports and rail operator Transnet’s operations have been hobbled by sabotage, cable theft and aging equipment. The walkout by RBCT workers that began Sept. 17 isn’t affecting operations, Sithole said. RBCT didn’t comment. Glencore, Thungela Resources and Exxaro Resources are among companies that use the terminal to ship coal.
The initial export component of South Africa’s yet-to-be-approved Green Hydrogen Commercialisation Strategy is not premised on the trade of scarce renewable electrons – converted into molecules or other tradeable derivatives – to decarbonise the industries of developed economies in Europe and Asia, Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) commissioner Joanne Bates insists. Instead, such exports are designed to ensure that South Africa can “lock-in” the grants, concessional debt and contract-for-difference price subsidies that are currently being offered by countries such as Germany and Japan to stimulate the use of green hydrogen products in their hard-to-abate sectors of steel, cement, petrochemicals, shipping and aviation.
Eskom has finally started a national update for the 6.6-million prepaid electricity meters under its control before they all become non-operational late next year. The utility said that the update, which has been under way for a little over a month, has been a success so far. The update is necessary to avoid a date rollover issue that will stop all 70-million STS-compliant prepaid electricity meters in the world from vending electricity after 24 November 2024.
Offshore wind energy has significant potential to provide a consistent source of renewable energy and create jobs in South Africa. While there are challenges to overcome, such as grid upgrades and maintenance costs, the benefits of offshore wind make it a promising solution to the country’s energy needs, says energy consultant Harmattan Renewables director Chanda Nxumalo. She explains that the World Bank estimates that there are about 49 GW of potential for fixed offshore turbines and about 852 GW of potential for floating turbines. This translates to about 900 GW of potential energy capacity.
Given the increasing size and weight of wind turbine components, ‘crane-less technology’ is becoming more relevant in the wind energy sector and will likely be adopted more widely in South Africa in the coming years, says power plant operator 3Energy CEO Florian Kroeber. While the term crane-less is used in the wind energy industry, it is misleading because most systems still use equipment that comprises a crane, although this technology mitigates the need for large ground-operated cranes for maintenance purposes.
The twelfth edition of Windaba, hosted by the South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA), will focus on the impact of wind energy, its role in the energy mix, and related industry and energy challenges. The event will be held from October 3 to 5 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. “We’ve established a track record in South Africa and proven that the technology works. Now we will be focused on impact,” says SAWEA CEO Niveshen Govender, commenting on the theme of this year’s Windaba: Beyond the Turbines.
Temporary power generation supplier Aggreko, an official sponsor at this year’s Manufacturing Indaba being held at the Sandton Convention Centre, in October, states that climate change is a hot topic in today’s world – and for good reason. With the last decade reported as the warmest on record, climate change is beginning to affect the manufacturing industry “in a big way”.
With the global energy transition sparking a need for participants in the South African automotive industry to reconsider business models to ensure sustainability, advisory firm KPMG is assisting clients in the sector to better grasp the impact of the transition. The company is helping clients draft strategies for holistically tackling the transition, owing to some not having a complete understanding of its impact across the entire automotive ecosystem, says KPMG automotive sector lead Dex Machida.
Despite no wind energy projects being selected as preferred bidders in the sixth bid window (BW6) of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP), the South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) says there is significant untapped wind potential in South Africa, with viable wind resources even being identified in areas previously not considered a first choice for wind energy project development. No wind projects were selected in BW6, owing to grid capacity in the traditional wind-resource-rich regions of the country having been accounted for as of 2022.
As South Africa progresses its hydrogen strategies and plans as a means to mitigate climate change and to bolster security of energy supply, the country needs to look internally before embarking on global outflows. Speaking at the Hydrogen Africa conference, held in Johannesburg from September 27 to 29, Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone Company COO Muze Shange said that amid the conversations surrounding hydrogen developments and exports is the need for focus around South Africa’s own needs and its own demands.
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