The Emalahleni local municipality in Mpumalanga has revealed that it owes Eskom over R5-billion for unpaid electricity. It has, therefore, handed over to its lawyers the accounts of some 30 defaulting customers, in a quest to collect the revenue and pay the debt.
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Generator set (genset) failure owing to a lack of proper maintenance poses a significant business risk, says fire safety company ASP Fire CEO Michael van Niekerk. Backup power supply systems such as gensets are critical to reduce overall electricity demand during load-shedding. However, it is vital that such important equipment is maintained properly and serviced regularly to be able to cope with such outages, Van Niekerk says.
Although downtime and damage to electrical equipment are common concerns for businesses during load-shedding, many business owners do not sufficiently consider the protection of their data, information technology (IT) company Silver Moon IT manager Raeford Liebenberg tells Engineering News. When power suddenly cuts out and then suddenly switches back on, surges can damage equipment – particularly sensitive equipment, such as hard drives and servers, he explains.
South Africa’s diesel generator market is expected to grow at a compound yearly growth rate of more than 2% from 2020 to 2025, according to a report released this year by research organisation Mordor Intelligence. Factors such as an increase in throughput of peaking plants and demand for uninterrupted and reliable power supply are expected to boost the market. However, the availability of cleaner energy alternatives and the advancement of battery technologies may restrain market growth during the forecast period, the report claims.
Generator set (genset) manufacturer Atlas Copco Power Technique business development manager Philip du Plessis says the business is always prepared to try to close any sale that comes its way, regardless of factors influencing the market. “While we do see an increase in inquiries under these difficult circumstances – which is good for us – we still find that general enquires for our gensets come through regardless of load-shedding,” he explains, referring to how bouts of load-shedding have served to increase leads and enquiries for new gensets.
State-owned power utility Eskom is making progress with repairs to a damaged cable that caused electricity supply interruptions at the Bedfordview substation and expects to fully restore supply by December 4.
Eskom reports that it has started working on the second joint, after successfully completing the first joint of the damaged cable, despite challenges posed by the rain.
JSE-listed engineering and construction group Murray & Roberts (M&R) expects to growth its order book beyond the current level of R60-billion on the back of growing demand for its services. “Over the next three years, the group expects most of its revenue to be generated by its two international business platforms, being the mining and the energy, resources and infrastructure platforms,” M&R said in a business update released to coincide with its seventy-third annual general meeting.
State-owned power utility Eskom, South Africa’s largest emitter of greenhouse gasses, is not adapting to change fast enough, as the world races to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 by adopting greener energy solutions, says local energy services company LTM Energy CEO Dhevan Pillay. South Africa is the fifteenth largest carbon emitter globally, with Eskom responsible for about 43% of the country’s total carbon emissions, owing to its significant reliance on coal-fired power to generate electricity. About 1 t of carbon dioxide is emitted for every MWh produced, according to Eskom’s 2021 Annual Sustainability Report.
Global wind power group Iberdrola and Swedish startup H2 Green Steel plan to build a vast renewable hydrogen plant on the Iberian peninsula to power the production of iron used to make steel with drastically reduced carbon emissions. The European Union is pushing the development of a supply chain for “green” hydrogen – made by splitting water molecules with renewable electricity – to replace the millions of tonnes of “grey” hydrogen – made with coal or natural gas – that its industry consumes every year.
Judge Jody Kollapen has reserved judgment in Eskom’s application to have the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (Nersa’s) rejection of its latest revenue application set aside as irrational and unlawful. Following a virtual hearing on December 1, Kollapen indicated that he expected to publish a determination, along with his reasons, next week.
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