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Lights stay on but the future looks dark
by Mike Rycroft, editor
 So far Eskom has managed to keep the lights on this winter, but the poor state of the distribution network has resulted in numerous power outages affecting large areas throughout the country. Both generation and distribution capacity and availability need attention to avoid future blackouts... ( more) |
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The state of the power system
by Mark Botha, EE Publishers
Eskom CEO Brian Dames delivered a presentation titled "State of the power system" at a recent meeting of Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) to keep stakeholders informed on the utility's progress.He said Eskom was managing a tight power system and would be on alert for the next five years... ( more) |
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South Africa's electricity is no longer the cheapest
Canada has replaced South Africa as the cheapest provider of electricity amongst the sixteen countries covered in its 2011 International electricity report and price survey, says international energy cost management consultancy NUS Consulting... ( more) |
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The Jacob Marley column: Of gas and other things
Of course everyone is rightly horrified by the latest steep increase in electricity tariffs and the continuing turmoil in the industry. So much for price signals - the price/demand curve seems to be totally inelastic, a lesson that one cannot but hope will sink in to the powers-that-be behind the carbon tax... ( more) |
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A new era in fossil power generation
by Peter Allegretti, Siemens Fossil Power Generation
The future role of fossil energy is often questioned. But the remaining huge reserves of gas and coal will likely continue to be needed. Michael Suess, CEO for fossil power generation at the Siemens Energy Sector, discusses his vision for the future energy mix and the tools that will make it happen... ( more) |
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The first Chernobyl: Kyshtym and the international nuclear event scale
by Chris Meyer, technical journalist
Kyshtym measured as a Level 6 disaster on the International Nuclear Event Scale, making it the third most serious nuclear accident ever recorded (after the Chernobyl disaster, and the Fukushima I nuclear accidents, both Level 7 on the INES scale... (more) |
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Underground coal gasification at Majuba
by Mark Botha, EE Publishers
Having licensed the technology from Ergo Exergy Technologies to develop UCG for South African application, Eskom has commissioned a pilot plant at the Majuba coalfield in Mpumalanga in January 2007 following concept, site selection, pre-feasibility and site characterisation studies in UCG... ( more) |
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Revolutionary coal sorting technology boosted by Arnot results
Information from CommodasUltrasort
Extensive tests undertaken by CommodasUltrasort, Coaltech, Isambane and Exxaro of CommodasUltrasort's dual energy X-ray transmission (DE-XRT) sorter at Arnot Colliery have proven that X-ray sorting is a viable dry-process technique for the de-stoning of coarse, raw coal... (more) |
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The role of smart metering in revenue protection
by James E Calmeyer, Strike Technologies
The electricity regulations for compulsory norms and standards for reticulation services of the Electricity Regulations Act No.4 of 2006 specifies that all end-users or customers with a monthly usage of 500 kWh or more need to be on a smart metering system and be on a time-of-use tariff by 1 January 2012... (more) |
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Copper theft prevention: Level of collaboration amongst role players
by Neil Arendse, City of Cape Town
Copper theft can be beaten through a collaborative approach. Role players were the MEC for Safety in the province, the SAfrican Police, Eskom, Transnet, Telkom, Business Against Crime (BAC), Agri-Forum, NPA, second hand dealers, SARS, the City of Cape Town and other relevant participants... (more) |
800 MVA, 400 kV transformer testing facility
by Ron Goodwin, HV Test
Rotek Engineering, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eskom Enterprises, in 2008 embarked on a R100-million major expansion programme by upgrading their transformer testing facilities. Their requirements were to be able to test transformers up to 800 MVA and 765 kV... ( more) |
Power consumption in industrial and mining fans
by Craig Johnston, ACTOM Mechanical Equipment
This paper considers the main types or configurations of fans, and indicates some of the advantages and disadvantages of each. A brief overview of the thinking related to energy saving is discussed. Methods of flow regulation, and hence power consumption for a fan, are explained by comparing actual applications... ( more) |
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Remote monitoring and diagnostic centres - the new wave? by Gerhard Greeff, Bytes Systems Integration
With the process engineering skills shortage, a number of big multi-site corporates are looking at technology to assist where keeping on-site experience has failed. Major mining, manufacturing and utility companies that are geographically spread are struggling to keep their specialist skills, especially in remote and rural locations... ( more) |
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Waste heat to increase energy efficiency in the metals industry
by Maytinee Vatanakul, Elizabet Cruz & Jacobus Swanepoel, et al, Hatch
Energy efficiency improvements using heat recovery processes offer benefits to both the business case and environmental impact of metallurgical facilities.The US DoE reports that available waste heat sources in industry, exceeds the current production of all renewable power sources combined... (more) |
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Johannesburg turns to landfill gas
by Mark Botha, EE Publishers
Following the 2007 initiation of the landfill gas-to-energy clean development mechanism (CDM) project by its Infrastructure and Services Department (ISD), the Johannesburg has commissioned its first landfill gas-to-energy project at Robinson Deep landfill site, with a further four sites to follow over the next 12 months... (more)
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