Emissions requirement postponed for Kusile

The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) announced in June that the National Air Quality Officer (NAQO) has granted State-owned power utility Eskom a postponement to meet Minimum Emission Standards (MES) at its Kusile power station. The postponement will be in effect from June 5, 2023, to March 31, 2025, and is subject to certain strict conditions. 
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Refurbishment under way at Kriel

Thermal solutions specialist Industrial Water Cooling (IWC) is working with State-owned power utility Eskom on the refurbishment of two natural draught cooling towers at its Kriel power station, in Mpumalanga. The refurbishment includes the installation of fiberglass-reinforced plastic (FRP) supports and polypropylene trickle fill, high-pressure cleaning of the ducts and distribution pipes, as well as the replacement of drift eliminators, sprayers and ladders.
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Microgrid roll-out gaining traction

After the successful commissioning of State-owned power utility Eskom’s third microgrid, at the Swartkop dam, in the Northern Cape, the company aims to launch its next two microgrids at Nomalengena Village, in the Eastern Cape, and Nounieput, also in the Northern Cape, by December 31, 2023. The microgrids form part of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy and Eskom’s efforts to achieve universal access to electricity using clean and reliable technologies and entails the dispatching of 100 microgrids across the country by March 2024 depending on suitable sites being identified on time.
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Ex-SANDF captain becomes solar panel plant manager

Sustainable energy products developer Ener-G-Africa’s (EGA’s) latest all-women-led and -staffed solar manufacturing facility is a first-of-its-kind, as it is the only small solar panel plant in the world certified by German-accredited inspection authority Tuv Rheinland. The 800 m² plant manufactures 20 W panels that sell for around R300 each in South Africa, Malawi, Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and several other African countries. The plant is run by ex-South African National Defence Force (SANDF) captain, now plant manager, Rene Salmon.
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Eskom says inoperative Kusile units could be reintroduced earlier than planned as it reports …

The temporary stacks being introduced at the Kusile coal power station, where three previously operational units have been out of service for ten months, have been built and interim CEO Calib Cassim has expressed optimism that the units could be returned to service earlier than previously indicated. All three units, which have a combined capacity of 2 100 MW, became inoperable after the Unit 1 flue duct collapsed on October 23 due to a build-up of slurry. The collapse also compromised the unit 2 and 3 flue ducts, which share a common chimney with the Unit 1 flue.
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Regulation important for a successful energy transition

South Africa has added almost 3.5 GW of private renewable power generation over 15 months between March 2022 and June 2023, but conflicting messaging from government creates uncertainty, Earth & Wire CEO and industry body South African Independent Power Producers Association chairperson Thomas Garner has said. The transition requires regulation to ensure that South Africa optimises its use of and investments in infrastructure, and regulators must move faster to ensure the power grid is stable and utilities and municipalities are sustainable, University of Stellenbosch Centre for Renewable & Sustainable Energy Studies power system simulation chairperson Dr Bernard Bekker.
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Johannesburg secures initial private power deals

Johannesburg, South Africa’s economic hub, has secured bids from private producers to provide 92 megawatts of electricity to help shield the city from nationwide electricity shortages. The local government and Johannesburg utility City Power last year issued a request for short-term power purchase agreements. South Africa experiences electricity rationing on a regular basis as state-owned Eskom Holdings struggles to meet demand.
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Urgent electricity bill – key to solving SA’s power crisis – finally tabled after delays

The Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill, an urgent piece of legislation that is key to overcoming South Africa’s energy crisis, has finally been tabled in Parliament nearly five months after being approved by Cabinet. There are significant doubts that the bill, which is a crucial next step in the unbundling of Eskom and establishing a competitive electricity market, will be processed through Parliament before the end of the current administration. According to Zet Luzipo, chair of the mineral resources and energy portfolio committee, this is due to the possibly “highly contested” nature of the legislation and the number of lengthy and likely politicised public hearings that need to occur.
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Sasol produced first green hydrogen from Sasolburg electrolyser in June

JSE-listed energy group Sasol reports that it produced its first green hydrogen in Sasolburg in June, during the commissioning phase of a project to repurpose an operational electrolyser to use renewable electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Sasol has set aside R350-million for the pilot Free State project, which is expected to produce up to 5 t of green hydrogen daily.
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Secunda refinery’s post-2030 output cut as Sasol struggles to pin down gas supply

Energy and chemicals group Sasol says it is continuing to assess several technology and feedstock solutions to bolster post-2030 liquid fuels and chemicals volumes at its Secunda refinery, in Mpumalanga, while still meeting its commitment to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 30% by the end of the decade. None of these alternatives have advanced to maturity, however, and the JSE group has, therefore, revised the refinery’s post-2030 yearly production guidance to only 6.7-million tons from the 7.5-million-ton-plus output achieved previously.
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