Development finance institution the African Development Bank (AfDB) has provided a $6-million grant to the West African Power Pool (WAPP) to conduct prefeasibility studies for the construction of the Sahel Transmission Backbone that will link regional solar parks in five countries that contribute to the WAPP. The grant is to launch the initial phase of the Desert to Power West Africa Regional Energy Programme. The AfDB-led Desert to Power initiative is expected to transform the Sahel by harnessing the region’s abundant solar potential.
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Solar photovoltaic (PV) and energy solutions provider Trina Solar will be launching a new distribution facility in South Africa. The expansion, the company says in a statement on July 13, comes as a step that further “caters to the company’s overarching expansion strategy to grow in the region”.
Shell South Africa country chairperson Hloniphizwe Mtolo has confirmed that the energy group is the exclusive supplier of liquified natural gas (LNG) to Karpowership SA, whose three projects, totalling 1 220 MW, were named in March as preferred bidders under government’s Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP). In a statement, Mtolo argued that the three projects would assist the country to address its prevailing electricity shortfall and that Shell was “extremely concerned” about delays to the RMIPPPP.
Severe winter weather in the Western Cape poses a threat to Eskom’s network, the power utility warned on Monday. In a statement, Eskom said strong winds, extreme cold and heavy rainfall could affect electricity supply, potentially leaving some customers with prolonged periods without power.
The World Bank expects South Africa to grow by 4% in 2021, supported by the strong global economic recovery from Covid and favourable commodity prices. However, the bank also warns that the medium-term outlook remains uncertain and will depend largely on whether the country is able to implement deeper economic reforms that support job creation and entrepreneurship. In its thirteenth South Africa Economic Update, released on July 12, the bank shows that the 2021 rebound, which follows the dramatic 7% contraction of 2020, is being underpinned by strong recoveries in key trading partners such as China and the US, as well as a marked improvement in its terms of trade.
State-owned power utility Eskom has conveyed its “heartfelt” condolences on the death of former chairperson Dr Ben Ngubane, who succumbed to Covid-19-related illness on the morning of July 12.
Ngubane joined the Eskom board of directors as a nonexecutive director on December 11, 2014, and was appointed interim chairperson on March 30, 2015. He was later appointed as chairperson but resigned from the organisation on June 12, 2017.
Ngubane joined the Eskom board of directors as a nonexecutive director on December 11, 2014, and was appointed interim chairperson on March 30, 2015. He was later appointed as chairperson but resigned from the organisation on June 12, 2017.
State-owned entities, like South Africa’s Eskom, should consider using high-capacity vehicles to reduce overall capital costs, says Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) principal research engineer Christopher de Saxe. A high-capacity vehicle is essentially a vehicle that carries more load than what is conventional for the country in which it operates in, and in South Africa, regulations permit vehicles up to 56 t, and 22 m in length – any vehicle that exceeds this would be considered a high-capacity vehicle.
At a time when funding for fossil fuel projects is drying up, Botswana is racing to develop six new coal mines and a rail link for exports, with the government prepared to put its own money into the projects. The southern African nation, the world’s second-biggest diamond producer, has more than 200-billion tons of untapped coal reserves. To kickstart the industry, it has turned to investors from the largest global coal consumer, China.
Nonfprofit think tank Res4Africa Foundation has appointed technology company Schneider Electric’s Middle East and Africa president Caspar Herzberg to its executive committee.
Res4Africa has, since 2012, been promoting a green energy transition in Africa and appointed Herzberg for four years to contribute to stakeholder engagement in government and the private sector.
Côte d’Ivoire chemical engineer Noël N’guessan has won the Royal Academy of Engineering’s 2021 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation. He developed biowaste equipment for smallholder farmers in West Africa to efficiently manage and generate income from biowaste.
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