The Integrated Resource Plan is the 20-year energy blueprint that determines broadly the energy mix of the country for the long term. In principle the new model is an improvement over the one which informed the IRP 2010 in that it is more flexible and takes account of several scenarios. It does however show a number of shortcomings... (more)

The NIASA Review points out significant flaws in the draft Update Report 2013 which it says have "caused several of the recommendations to be faulty to such an extent that implementation of the current version of the IRP would impact very negatively on South Africa's energy security and its economy"... (more)

Derek Hanekom, the minister of science and technology, met Mauro Dell'Ambrogio, the Swiss state secretary for education, research and innovation in Berne, Switzerland, recently. South Africa and Switzerland enjoy very fruitful scientific and technology cooperation, backed by high-level interactions at a political level... (more)

This article examines the generation and distribution of electricity in this present volatile environment, and proposes that Eskom should be unbundled, as was recommended in 2010 by a former CEO, into two separate entities which together comprise the utility's core business... (more)

Despite an apparent lack of funds, the government, in the form of the Dept of Public Enterprise shows a marked lack of interest in recovering taxpayers' money from Medupi contractors Hitachi Africa and Alstom which have strikingly failed to perform against contracts... (more)

The slogan "electricity for all" was first used in 1988, and in the same year the first electrification joint venture was created in the Eastern Cape. Over the next twenty-five years, this initiative grew to bring electricity to more than 6-million homes, schools and clinics... (more)

This month's winning letter points out that City Power falls short on maintenance, while other letters concern off-grid PV systems for small businesses and monitoring on-grid wind turbines... (more)

What happens in dealing with the intermittent input from wind turbines? It is not too much of a problem at present with the relatively small wind generation programme planned for South Africa? But beyond that, there could be problems... (more)

The mining industry in SA, is seriously looking at alternative, more energy effective processes, without reducing output. Deep level mines require large volumes of cold water at the underground production levels. The energy consumed by these pumping installations constitutes approximately 14% of the mine's overall demand... (more)

The deviation of power frequency component (DPFC) is a fundamental principle employed in many protection IEDs. This principle is based on the concept of superposition, where the pre-fault load current and voltage can be subtracted from the whole fault current and voltage to obtain the pure fault components... (more)

Due to their vast exposed surface and height, wind turbines are frequently hit by direct lightning strikes. Comprehensive lightning and surge protection measures are essential to maximise the return on investment and prevent downtime... (more)

The development of battery powered electric vehicles has been focused mainly on private passenger vehicles, while public transport seems to have been neglected. There is a growing interest in this sector of the electric vehicle (EV) market... (more)