JSE-listed Wescoal has delivered the first coal from its Moabsvelden mine, in Delmas, Mpumalanga, to power utility Eskom. “The operationalisation of the Moabsvelden project under a difficult operating economic environment represents a significant milestone in the history of Wescoal, since the acquisition of Keaton Energy Holdings in 2017.
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South Africa has traditionally been a net importer of energy, but a relatively new clean technology could be pivotal in helping South Africa become an exporter and dramatically cut the country’s carbon emissions, says Rand Merchant Bank (RMB). RMB CEO James Formby says that although green hydrogen is yet to be widely adopted around the world, it is one of several potential low-carbon fuels that could take the place of today’s fossil fuels.
Local residential and commercial lithium-ion battery company iG3N has designed a battery storage solution to enable businesses to store and use energy. The solution is designed with a lifespan of ten years, says iG3N co-founder Tumi Mphahlele.
Six Western Cape municipalities, as well as the City of Cape Town, have been named by Western Cape Finance and Economic Opportunities Minister David Maynier as candidates to participate in the first phase of the province’s Municipal Energy Resilience (MER) project. The MER initiative, which was unveiled in 2020, has been established to enable the development of municipal energy projects in the province in line with recent changes to the country’s energy regulations, empowering municipalities to purchase energy directly from independent power producers (IPPs) and/or to develop their own generation facilities.
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) will conduct a virtual public consultation workshop, from March 24 to 26, to solicit stakeholder input into the strategic plan of its electricity division. The workshop will seek specific input on the changes facing the electricity supply industry (ESI), its likely end state and what the risks and solutions could be as the ESI transitions to such an end state.
Deputy Minister of Public Enterprises Phumulo Masualle told Parliament on Tuesday afternoon that despite ongoing troubles at state-owned entities (SOEs) and delays in already announced plans to get them back in shape, the department still had a plan to improve the fortunes of beleaguered parastatals. Masualle was replying orally to questions from members of Parliament during a virtual plenary of the National Council of Provinces. He was a stand-in during the plenary for Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan.
Energy management and automation multinational Schneider Electric has signed a memorandum of understanding with marine energy technology company Minesto to develop and build ocean energy farms based on Minesto’s Deep Green technology. The companies will jointly identify, assess and develop projects, ranging from smaller microgrid installations to multimegawatt farms, as well as exploit their existing pipelines of leads. The collaboration will include technical system integration and project management, as well as sales and project finance opportunities.
Coal-heavy electricity utility Eskom has reiterated its commitment to complying with South Africa’s tightening minimum emission standards, but CEO Andre de Ruyter has also indicated that it is considering capital-light alternatives, as well as noncoal repowering solutions to meet its obligations, which could otherwise involve investments of some R300-billion. In November, the Department of Environment, Forestry & Fisheries (DEFF) confirmed that the National Prosecuting Authority would proceed with the criminal prosecution of Eskom for violations of air pollution laws at its Kendal power station.
Sudan’s prime minister has written to the African Union, the United Nations, the European Union and the US to formally request their mediation on the Nile water being used to fill Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), the Sudanese foreign ministry said on Monday. Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok expressed concern over Ethiopia’s stated intention of adding more water to the reservoir behind the hydropower dam for a second year in letters sent on Saturday, the statement added.
The Rand Corporation’s been designing war games with the Pentagon since the 1950s, modelling such hard-nosed security scenarios as a two-front US war with China and Russia. Now the think tank is turning its realpolitik tool kit to a question more often associated with environmental dreamers: How will clean energy change the world? Rand is among the small but growing number of research organizations, universities and at least one European government that have started gaming out the gritty geopolitical implications of a globe dominated by green energy. It’s the latest sign that the once quaint idea of renewable energy displacing fossil fuels has gone mainstream.
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