South Africa Gets R33m Loan From China In Order To Supply Zim With Electricity
Staff Reporter|South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has indicated that his country has gone out of its way to get a R33 million loan from China in order to be able to continue supplying electricity to Zimbabwe.
After an hour and a half of answering questions in parliament,Ramaphosa assured the house that his ruling African National Congress will not have any corrupt activity on the loans sort to increase power production for the region.
Ramaphosa said it would go towards developing the new Kusile power plant and increasing the capacity of South Africa’s electricity grid. This would allow the country to keep supplying nearby countries with electricity.
“Zimbabwe continues to import electricity from us,” Ramaphosa said.
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South Africa Gets R33m Loan From China In Order To Supply Zim With Electricity
Eskom’s coal crises deepens
Concerns about the overall state of Eskom’s ageing fleet of coal-fired power plants and the ability of Eskom to meet demand in the next five years are deepening. Already, Eskom is operating its emergency open-cycle gas turbines in the Western Cape almost daily to meet demand and avoid load shedding.
Unplanned plant breakdowns, as measured by the unplanned capability loss factor, are significantly higher than expected, while planned maintenance outages remain high, as measured by the planned capability loss factor. Eskom Spokesperson, Khulu Phasiwe joins CNBC Africa for more.
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https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2018/10/01/eskoms-coal-crises-deepens/
Low-cost natural gas to fuel Africa’s economic revolution
Gas remains a largely untapped energy resource in Sub-Saharan Africa with resource estimates suggesting offshore discoveries in the Rovuma Bason may turn Mozambique into one of the world’s largest natural gas exporters by 2023.
With growing interest in sustainability and low-carbon energy, access to abundant, low-price gas resources may help position the region for a new wave of commercial and industrial development.
Beyond Mozambique gas resources have been identified in Namibia, Angola, Malawi, Ghana, Tanzania and Nigeria, each of which has the potential to contribute significantly to Africa’s energy security goals, as well as help drive the industrial ambitions across the region.
In fact, the US Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Power Africa initiative, which was initiated in 2016, launched the Gas Roadmap for sub-Saharan Africa this June at the World Gas Conference in Washington, DC. This roadmap aims to add about 16,000MW of gas-fired power in nine countries by 2030. The roadmap is built on the fact that based on known reserves, there is potential for approximately 400GW of gas-generated power in sub-Saharan Africa.
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https://www.esi-africa.com/low-cost-natural-gas-to-fuel-africas-economic-revolution/
Funding of two new coal IPPs in South Africa may be under threat
International and local efforts to restrict funding for the construction of new coal-fired power plants appear to be gaining momentum, even possibly threatening the funding of the two new planned independent coal power producer projects in South Africa, Thabametsi and Khanyisa.
In the latest development, it has been reliably learned that last week Standard Bank advised the director general of the Department of Energy, Thabani Zulu, of the bank’s new policy position to stop funding the construction of any new coal-fired power plants, in line with new Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development country protocols.
The information was shared with EE publishers by persons with knowledge of the matter, who had not been authorised to speak to the media.
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https://www.fin24.com/Economy/funding-of-two-new-coal-ipps-in-south-africa-may-be-under-threat-20180926
Integrated Resource Plan: Time to end the madness of new coal
Substantial obstacles, including multiple legal challenges, render SA’s coal IPPs unlikely to go ahead.
The draft Integrated Resource Plan for Electricity (the IRP) is a significant improvement on the 2016 draft, and many were relieved to see a decision on future nuclear energy pushed out until 2030.
But others, including the Life After Coal Campaign (consisting of Earthlife Africa, the Centre for Environmental Rights, and groundWork) and Greenpeace Africa, have slammed the inclusion of 1,000MW of new coal-based electricity. This power is planned to come from two independent power producer (IPP) coal-fired power stations – Thabametsi (557MW), largely owned by Japan’s Marubeni and South Korea’s KEPCO, proposed near Lephalale; and Khanyisa (306MW), proposed near eMalahleni, with the Saudi-owned ACWA Power, its biggest shareholder.
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http://www.businessinsider.com/top-25-renewable-energy-companies-thomson-reuters-2017-11
At least 40% of the world’s power will come from renewable sources by 2040 — here are the companies leading the charge
The explosive growth of renewable energy has shaken up the energy industry over the last decade.
As the costs of solar and wind continue to fall and bottlenecks like storage capacity are diminished, the International Energy Agency predicts that renewable energy will comprise 40% of global power generation by 2040. In the next five years, the share of electricity generated by renewables worldwide is set to grow faster than any other source.
Last week, Thomson Reuters released its inaugural Energy 100 list, which evaluates companies in the sector (both traditional and renewable) based on eight criteria, including innovation, environmental impact, social responsibility, and risk management. The top companies go “beyond the balance sheet,” according to the report — in addition to their solid financials, they have created advanced sustainability programs, developed groundbreaking technologies, and benefited their surrounding communities.
Thomson Reuters created a sub-list of the top 25 renewable energy companies, which are generally smaller and younger than the energy giants on the main list. Eight of them are based in China, Hong Kong, or Taiwan.
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http://www.businessinsider.com/top-25-renewable-energy-companies-thomson-reuters-2017-11
December Ground-Breaking For Combined Heat And Power Plant At Jamalco
New Fortress Energy (NFE) will officially break ground for the new combined heat and power plant at Jamalco’s Halse Hall, Clarendon, refinery on December 1.
Wesley Edens, founder and chairman of NFE, made the announcement last Friday, ending weeks of speculation as to when the work would begin.
Cabinet approved the Jamalco-proposed project for the establishment of the plant in June 2016 and NFE was engaged to build and operate the cogeneration facility. Construction of the facility is projected for completion in December 2019.
According to Edens, the NFE-led development of this new facility at the Jamalco plant will involve the employment of more than 400 workers during construction.
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http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20171120/december-ground-breaking-combined-heat-and-power-plant-jamalco
Two birds, one stone in waste-to-energy sector
Doranova from Finland has teamed up with Binh Duong Water Supply Sewerage Environment Co., Ltd. (BIWASE) to implement the second phase of a waste-to-energy project in Vietnam. In the first phase, another Finnish company provided waste separation lines on the same site.
According to Mikko Saalasti, head of renewable energy at Doranova, Vietnam delivered one of the largest projects Doranova has ever undertaken – a 35,000-tonne waste-to-energy plant worth €6 million ($6.95 million), currently under development on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City.
“This project is expected to reduce the city’s landfill, as well as provide additional power generation options for Vietnam’s largest metropolis to draw from. Our bio-gas plant will further assist Vietnam to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions,” Saalasti said.
Specifically, Doranova will collect gas discharged from landfills, clean it, and use cogeneration to produce both electricity and useful heat. It will collect landfill gases at a maximum level of 500 cubic metres (m3) per hour. The project kicked off early this year, and is slated for completion by April 2018.
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http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/environment/190236/two-birds–one-stone-in-waste-to-energy-sector.html
Fancy having your own power plant? Fuel cell micro-cogeneration is market-ready
09/11/2017
By Clare Taylor
Energy Post
Energy Post
Demonstrating the latest smart home energy solution by installing more than 1000 units in homes and businesses in ten countries, the ene.field project has successfully trialed the biggest fleet of fuel cell micro-cogeneration in Europe to date. Its successor project, PACE, aims at bringing costs down: but manufacturers and users say, the technology is market-ready.
“I thought it would be nice to have my own power plant,” says Jochen Steneberg, a participant in the ene.field project field trial. A demonstration project for fuel cell micro-cogeneration, the ene.field project was funded to the tune of €52.5 million, with matching contributions from industry and the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU), a public private partnership supporting research, technological development and demonstration activities in fuel cell and hydrogen energy technologies in Europe.
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http://www.decentralized-energy.com/articles/2017/11/fancy-having-your-own-power-plant-fuel-cell-micro-cogeneration-is-market-ready.html
