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Owning our energy future
by Dr. Steve Lennon, Eskom
There are two ways we can view the SA power sector. Consider the almost half a trillion rand being invested in the sector over the next 5 years as the biggest inward investment ever, a massive vote of confidence in our economy. On the other hand you could view 14 hours of load shedding in six years as a sign of doom and gloom and a precursor of more of the same... (more)
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Department of Energy - more talk or a move to action?
by Chris Yelland, EE Publishers
Speaking at a breakfast hosted by The New Age and SABC at the Sandton Convention Centre on 23 June 2014, the new minister of energy, Tina Joemat-Pettersson, indicated the priorities she has set herself in her new portfolio. Central to this appears to be an appreciation of the weaknesses in her department, and the need to engage widely... ( more)
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Eskom shake-up on the cards...
by Chris Yelland, EE Publishers
Shortly after new minister of public enterprises, read Eskom Generation the riot act at the 2014 Eskom financial results presentation on 11 July 2014, there are signs that a significant shake-up is on the cards at Eskom. Mike Rossouw has moved to Eskom as "energy thought leader", with the role of "accelerating the recovery of Eskom's generation fleet capacity and reliability"... ( more)
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Carbon taxes are coming: Best we prepare for them
by Dirk de Vos, QED Solutions
US President Obama's proposed new rule to reduce the United States' CO2 emissions by 30% from 2005 levels is likely to have far reaching consequences for SA which is arguably the most carbon intense economy in the world as a result of its dependence on coal fired power stations for 90% of its electricity generation... ( more)
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Solar energy in South Africa: Challenges and opportunities
by Gareth Warner, Solar Century
Two years ago, there was not much interest in solar technology in SA. Today, businesses and government increasingly regard it as a cost-effective alternative energy generator with potential to deliver lower-cost energy, encourage job creation and stimulate local economies... ( more)
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Designing a new household electrification strategy for SA
by Pepukaye Bardouille, International Finance Corporation
Over the past two decades, SA has achieved a significant level of electrification: 76% of all households now have access to largely grid-connected power, up from 34% in 1994. But the country's Department of Energy and its delivery partners face several barriers to electrifying the remaining backlog of 3,4-million households... (more)
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The Jacob Marley column: Hickory, dickory, dock
Clocks have always played an important role in power systems. From the earliest days when George Westinghouse's AC won the commercial battle against Thomas Alva Edison's DC, and in spite of the comeback that DC rightly made in later years, every generator (or inverter) must run at synchronous speed and in phase... (more)
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This month's letters call for the DoE and Eskom to commission another pumped storage scheme, and raise the need for a forum or organisation to which the public can turn to complain about poor service delivery by municipalities... (more)
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Compiled by Peter Adams, EE Publishers
Africa off-grid energy challenge; DRC: Inga supported by AfDB; Electricity heat and water in Africa; Ethiopia approves three new solar projects; African Union funds geothermal project; Liberia electrification; Mozambique grows capacity; Namibia seeks power imports... ( more)
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Book review: Communication for Engineers
by Peter Adams, EE Publishers
Originally written for technical people like engineers, surveyors, programmers and scientists in India, it has been adapted for SA conditions by four highly qualified communication specialists. Gary Collins, Jenni Middleton Horn, Thobekile Luthuli and Roashaine Pather represent the leading edge of their discipline in this country... (more)
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Flexible gas engine concepts support renewable energy in power systems
by Niklas W�gar, Mats �stman, Mikael Wideskog, and Eirik Linde, W�rtsil�
As the amount of variable renewable generation increases, in order for production to meet demand, sufficient balancing capability is needed. This requires greater flexibility in the power system, and generation technology based on internal combustion gas engines is one of the evident alternatives... ( more)
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Eskom successfully energised the high voltage (HV) yard and three power lines at the Ingula pumped storage scheme in June 2014. The project is currently under construction near Ladysmith on the border of KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State... ( more)
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Emerging geospatial tools for the electrical grid
by Paul Wilson, Subvertical, and Gareth Nicholls, Avanade
There has always been a need for geospatial information to help manage the grid. The grid is a complex network of wires, supported by devices that control the flow of electrons through those wires. To build and manage that network, the utility has to know the location of all those components and how they are connected... (more) |
Twenty-first century distribution transformers
by M Kuisis, Martec, and M Low, TMC Africa
Although transformers have been with us for a very long time and the basic principal of operation remains unchanged, there have been several design and construction advances in recent years. Several of these afford significant technical and commercial advantage, often together with other benefits... ( more)
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The present environment for the operation of electric power systems (EPS) is complicated by environmental, economic as well as societal constraints. As a result EPS operate often close to their limits while trying to minimise costs and keep the quality of supply according to standards... ( more)
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Oil analysis in wind turbine gearboxes
by Steven Lara-Lee Lumley, Wearcheck
The failure rate of wind turbines is about three times higher than that of conventional generators and this has historically been attributed to constantly changing loads experienced by the wind turbine as a result of environmental variants... ( more)
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Integrating a wind farm into a transmission or distribution system
by J Smith and M Hadingham, HatchGoba, Africa
Integrating a wind energy farm into a transmission or distribution network not only requires good engineering practices but also conformance to the NERSA grid connection code... ( more)
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Improving the efficiency of single phase asynchronous machines
by Rupert Gouws and Heino van Jaarsveldt, North-West University
In South Africa around 60% of the electricity supplied to the industrial and mining sectors is consumed by asynchronous machines. The efficiency of these asynchronous machines can be improved by reducing their operating temperatures... ( more) |
Connecting and sealing cables in the mining industry
by David O'Brien, CMP Products
Compliance with technical standards, and with local electrical codes, wiring rules and other regulations which may be in force is of paramount importance. The selection of cable sealing devices or cable glands is a safety critical process... ( more)
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