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Does electricity have an image problem?
by Hannes Roos, AMEU president
 In the modern world nothing happens without electricity, and yet in our land it is often referred to in disparaging terms by the general public, by our customers and by the media. We cannot purify or pump water to our towns without it, we cannot treat waste products without it, the machines and equipment we use every day of our lives require it for their manufacture. Is it any wonder that the number of homes without it is often used as a measure of "progress" in nations?... (more)
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Letter to the editor
by Prof. Phillip LLoyd
"Renewable - but at what price?" asks Chris Yelland. Indeed! Already we are seeing the cost of the renewables added to Eskom's price for electricity - the cost is high. What is the rationale for chasing after renewables in this way? It is clearly not sustainable - nothing which needs a subsidy is sustainable... (more)
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The Jacob Marley column: The vision thing
"It was a good year, I dare say," ventured the Ghost of Christmas Past. 'No blackouts, no revolving brown-outs, the lights were kept on and we were assured continually that everything was on track. A complete waste of that good standby generator I acquired after the big blackout of 2008... (more)
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Eskom is the problem - not the solution
by Dick de Vos, QED Solutions
The underlying foundation of the country's economy is that electricity has been cheap, readily available and abundant. Our economy and its industrial base is a power-intensive one, and South Africa has one of the highest power consumption to unit of GDP ratios anywhere... (more)
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Aside from a few minor issues, 4-million turbines is all it takes
Information from EEnergy Informer
Integrating large amounts of intermittent wind is challenging, to put it mildly. If you believe the numbers, that is all it takes to supply the world with half of its energy needs by 2030: a mere 4-million 5 MW wind turbines on top of 100 m towers, spinning gracefully with no carbon emissions. Wouldn't that be lovely?... (more)
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Unpacking Eskom application - what does the Eskom application imply?
by Mike Rossouw, EIUG
Eskom has submitted its third multi-year price determination (MYPD3) application for review and approval by Nersa to cover the period 2013 to 2018, and the Energy Intensive Users Group (EIUG), which represents South Africa's mining and industrial companies, hopes that various key issues surrounding Eskom's pricing increase application to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) will be properly unpacked and explained to consumers... (more)
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Eskom tariff hikes - should they be higher?
by Johan Muller, Frost & Sullivan
With the recent 16% tariff hike announcements (over 5 years) to help strengthen Eskom's financial position, and the level of push-back from stakeholders, alarm bells are ringing. The question is seldom asked as to whether these 16% increases are not perhaps too low... (more)
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Nuclear energy facilities prove resilience during hurricane Sandy
Information from the Nuclear Energy Institute
Thirty-four nuclear energy facilities in the path of Hurricane Sandy have responded well and safely to this powerful storm, demonstrating their resilience against severe natural forces. Careful planning and comprehensive preparations days in advance of the storm paid off at all of the facilities... (more)
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The viability of nuclear power in South Africa by Andrew Kenny, Consultant
We have only got one planet, and we must love her and everything that lives on her, and do everything we can to protect her. We must always act in such a way as to cause the most benefit and the least cost to people and the environment... (more)
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Drive and controls for Turkish dam
Information from Hytec Holdings
The Deriner Dam on the Coruh river in northeastern Turkey is gigantic in every respect. At the heart of this mammoth project is an underground hydroelectric power plant. Its four giant turbines will generate 2100 GWh of power per year - the annual consumption of a city of 1-million people... (more)
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Experiences with hardware-in-loop testing of protection relays and settings
by B Rigby, Etalumise, and A Perera, A Mtshali, S Klein, A Bartylak, Durban University of Technology
This paper presents a review of how hardware-in-loop testing of protection relays on a real-time simulator has been put to use in a range of applications. In some of these applications, models of relatively large parts of the transmission network have been used on a real-time simulator... (more)
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Redundancy and load balancing for substation automation networks
by P Diamandis and R Hariram, Quadnet Computer Systems
Modern industrial and substation automation networks require careful planning and design for performance and redundancy. Mission-critical processes require data within strict time constraints but other important data flows also need to be accommodated on the same networks... (more)
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Wastewater treatment plant reliability versus energy efficiency
Information from Endress + Hauser
Current legislative demands have led to an increase in the complexity of modern wastewater treatment adhering to effluent limits at the plant's outlet. Furthermore, energy cost trends show that energy efficiency is growing in importance in wastewater treatment and industry in general... (more)
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Load management of water projects using an integrated systems approach
by Chris Scheepers, Dr. Gerhard Bolt and Marius Kleingeld, North-West University
The Department of Water Affairs (DWA), is responsible for the sustainable supply of useable water in South Africa. This water is not only used for residential and agricultural purposes but also to provide water for industrial processes, the mining industries and cooling water for power stations... (more)
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Delivering GW-scale low cost clean power solutions by Daniel Schwab, BrightSource
Recently Eskom released its multi year price determination (MYPD3) document, requesting from the national energy regulator a 16% increase per annum of its average electricity selling price, each year for the next five years, beginning in May 2013... (more)
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