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The state of the renewables industry: a long walk to greendom
by Irvan Damon, SESSA Ambassador
 Previous uncertainty over South Africa's renewable energy procurement programme has made many international players shaky about investing in the sector. However, this situation was resolved recently when the South African National Energy Regulator (NERSA) concurred with the Department of Energy's (DoE's) proposal to abandon the renewable energy feed-in tariff (REFIT)... ( more) |
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Editor of Energize wins 2011 SANEA Energy Journalism Award
 Mike Rycroft, editor of Energize magazine, is the winner of the 2011 SANEA Energy Journalism Award. The award was presented on 25 August 2011 in Johannesburg for "special efforts within the field of journalism to promote greater understanding of energy and its role in sustaining human endeavours"... ( more) |
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Renewable energy procurement in South Africa - a disquieting move from transparent to opaque
by Chris Yelland, EE Publishers
Any lack of transparency and secrecy serves to fuel concerns that parasitic and non value-adding shareholders, politicians, political parties, advisors, consultants, agents and sundry pedlars of influence are lining up again for an even bigger feeding frenzy than that of the R30-billion arms deal... ( more) |
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The Jacob Marley column: Like playing poker in the dark
My first poker game reminded me so much of the current renewable energy IPP bid process. As some of your erudite readers wrestle with the paperwork and the rules and the cost of doing business with the boys from Pretoria, they might do well to reflect on whether they'll ever see the light of day again... ( more) |
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Eskom's exorbitant price hikes
Eskom's exorbitant price hikes - both past and projected - have been extensively covered in the press but, surprisingly, no mention has been made of those who have recently had to face a single, whopping 76% increase... ( more) |
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Energy storage: Enabling grid-ready solutions
by David Boutacoff, EPRI
Energy storage has played a relatively minor role in the power system, but as intermittent renewable resources, distributed generation, and advanced technologies transform the traditional power grid, storage may become a key enabler of the low-carbon, smart power grid of the future... (more) |
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Wind to battery project - basic generation-storage
Information from Excel Energy
With a large penetration of wind already in the Xcel energy balancing footprint and plans to add more in the near future, the company is seeking innovative ways to integrate renewable energy. One potential solution is large-scale electrochemical energy storage... (more) |
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Testing capacitor banks using the M4000 test instrument
by Long Pong, Doble Engineering
Testing a capacitor bank used to be a tedious and time-consuming task but using M4000 instrument system will simplify this tremendously and provide comprehensive information for capacitor condition assessment and capacitor bank management... ( more) |
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SVCs - regulators to maximise Africa's power systems by Dale Pudney, High Voltage Technology, and Dr. Pat Naidoo, Pat Naidoo Consulting Engineers
The strength of electrical power systems is defined by the fault level which is determined by the investment in power generation. Many of the developing countries in Africa have small generation facilities such as small hydro and diesel driven turbines... (more) |
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Current and voltage monitors combat theft and improve supply quality
by Rudi Kleinhans, Eskom Distribution
This paper presents the results of research done on the measurement of current and voltages on the Eskom LV network in the North Western Region (NWR), which includes areas of Gauteng, Free State and Northern Cape... (more) |
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General overview of harmonics in power networks with PFC capacitors
Information from Impact Energy
It is commonly accepted that utilities generate a near perfect sine wave voltage. In most areas, the voltage found on transmission systems has very low distortion. However, as we move closer to the load, the distortion increases... (more) |
Automation helps solve water hammering hindrance
Information from Rockwell Automation
Coping with the fluid "surges" or "hammering" often experienced in centrifugal pumping systems as a result of starting and stopping a pump, opening or closing valves, and when any sudden change of flow is introduced, can be complex and costly... ( more) |
Improved energy efficiency in fruit packhouses and cold stores
by J J (Koos) Bouwer, Entrevise Business Solutions
The study emphasized the value of good energy management practices in the fruit supply chain and that a benchmarking system is a good tool to use as starting point for energy efficiency improvement in the fruit industry... ( more) |
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Hybrid solar and generator power solution
Information from Current Automation
In remote areas, photovoltaics, diesel/alternators and co-generation in addition to batteries, are solutions used to provide locally electrical energy. AC power from an inverter is generally more expensive, per watt, than from a generator. So why would one add an inverter to an AC generator system?... ( more) |
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Off-grid electrification in rural areas of South Africa
by Steve White and Stephen Koopman , Eskom
Around 70% of households are grid connected. However, of the remaining 30%, 51% of these lie in the deep rural areas of South Africa. This coupled with the rising costs of material and the increasing costs of electricity makes grid electrification uneconomical... (more) |
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Power solutions for utility scale solar power
Information from AEG Power Solutions
Now, customers in the renewable energy field can benefit from industrial expertise. The new solar inverter product line launched in 2009 spearheads an expansion into global renewable energy markets... (more)
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Institute and industry News
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Views, comment and opinion
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