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Should South Africa import electricity?
by Roger Lilley, Editor
 During his recent visit to South Africa, President Obama promised to provide billions of dollars for additional electricity generation in southern Africa. South Africa's urgent need for additional electricity could be supplied from outside our borders, or by foreign companies inside our country. But are either of these options really in the country's best interests? ... ( more) |
Medupi delays: the need for accountability
by Chris Yelland, EE Publishers
 During a site visit on 11 April 2013, Minister Gigaba advised Eskom, Alstom and Hitachi executives, that first power from Medupi by no later than December 2013 was absolutely critical, that no further delays would be tolerated, and that "heads would roll" if any such delays occurred. The Eskom CEO and his executive team assured the minister that the due date would indeed be met... ( more) |
The real cost of keeping the lights on
by Doug Kuni, Independent Power Producers Association
 Doug Kuni from the SA Independent Power Producers Association, while addressing the media at the Free Market Foundation's offices recently, said that Eskom are misleading the public when they say that they are keeping the lights on. Many people tend to believe that as long as the lights are still on that everything's okay with the electricity supply. Kuni pointed out that... ( more) |
Net energy metering a headache for utilities
by Dr. Perry Sioshansi, EEnergy Informer
What started as a scheme to encourage homeowners and businesses to install rooftop solar PVs to self-generate part of their electricity needs has grown into a gigantic headache. Because electricity storage is costly, customers typically sell the excess generation to the grid and buy back what they need from the grid at other times... ( more) |
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The Jacob Marley column: links in the chain
Sir, I hope I may be forgiven for reminiscing. Allow me to recap, for the benefit of some of your erudite readers, some details about myself. I was born on 21 April 1765, which event took place just over 248 years ago. It was called the Age of Enlightenment, which also gave birth to the infant electricity industry... (more) |
Solar projects in agriculture, manufacturing
by Yoann Joyeux, Ciel & Terre
As the agricultural and manufacturing sectors face steep electricity price hikes, alternative supply options are being studied to identify those which will best relieve the pressure of growing operating costs. Self-generation by means of solar photovoltaic (PV) generation is proving to be one of the most effective options... ( more) |
Flexible and efficient power generation
by Wayne Glossop and Arnaud Gouet, Wärtsilä
With the recent determination for new generating capacity having been approved by Dipuo Peters, the minister of energy, new challenges and opportunities exist for South Africa to embark on exciting and innovative power projects that could transform the local power industry into a world class leader... ( more) |
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Protecting generators from LOE
by ZP Shi, JP Wang, Z Gajic and C Sao, ABB Sweden; and M Ghandhari, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
The loss of excitation (LOE) condition of a generator may cause severe damages on both generator and the interconnected systems. This paper analyses the behaviours of different LOE protection schemes, such as R-X, G-B, P-Q and U-I schemes, for a hydro generator, which is connected to an infinite bus... ( more) |
Cahora Bassa HVDC line emergency restoration
by Mike Rycroft, EE Publishers
During the recent floods in Mozambique a section of the Cahora Bassa HVDC line was damaged. This had a huge impact on the transfer of power between Mozambique and South Africa with one of the 533 kV DC lines out of service... (more) |
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Using protection in delta-wye power transformers
by George Alexander, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories
Application of traditional connections such as transformer windings connected in wye and CTs in delta, or transformer windings connected in delta and CTs in wye, involves no modification of current inputs to differential calculations in the relay... (more)
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How to uprate or upgrade a substation
Information from Cigrè
Age, obsolescence, and network evolution or community requirements are common issues impacting electrical substations throughout the world and all these lead in the short or long term to the inevitable necessity for renewal of existing substations... (more) |
Testing procedures for distributed energy
by Thomas Schossig, Omicron
Decentralised energy resources, especially wind farms, became a challenge for protection, automation and control in the grids. Transmission and distribution system operators require tests for loss of mains and other decoupling protection functions... (more) |
Tying small renewable systems to the SA grid
by Dr. Wilfred Fritz, Cape Peninsula University of Technology
Connecting individual, private, small scale renewable electricity generators as power producers would diversify the risk of relying on a single entity to control the entire power-generation market. However, is it as straightforward as giving private micro-licences for renewable electricity generation to home owners?... (more)
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African hydro schemes - clean power from water
Information from Andritz Hydro
With major rivers such as the Nile, Congo, Niger, Zambezi and the Orange as well as other innumerable watercourses and lakes, Africa is blessed with abundant hydrological resources that have historically provided the economic basis for much of the continent... (more) |
Biomass energy unlocks economic sustainability
Information from Aurecon Group
The conversion of biomass into an energy form is one of the oldest technologies known to man. Since the beginning of time man collected wood and other organic combustible items, transported it to a homestead and burnt it to provide heat... (more) |
Energy, cost saving with power factor correction
by Mike Rycroft, EE Publishers
Power factor correction (PFC) is generally applied to save on maximum demand charges or power factor penalties levied by electricity distributers. If properly applied, PFC can also reduce energy consumption in many types of installation... (more) |
De-energising electrical hazards at mine sites
by Cubbon Killey and Marty Trivette, GE
Strategies and technologies are needed to protect workers and equipment from electrical arc-flash incidents in mining operations. The safe, efficient and reliable supply of electricity is vital for profitable mining operations, but never at the expense of safety... (more) |
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