Ramaphosa called in to resolve national energy crisis
by Roger Lilley, editor, Energize magazine
 Following the recent rolling load shedding programme which has caused major disruptions in every sphere of national life, the South African government has adopted a five-point plan to address the electricity challenges facing the country, and has appointed Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa to oversee the turnaround of Eskom... ( more)
|
by Roger Lilley, editor, Energize magazine
 After a week of severe load shedding, which threw consumers into a panic, Tshediso Matona, Eskom's chief executive, said that although the system is "living on the edge", the electricity shortage is not a crisis but a challenge to the utility. He explained how unplanned maintenance and equipment failure cost the utility between 5000 and 9000 MW of capacity recently... ( more)
|
by Chris Yelland, investigative editor, EE Publishers
 SA is rich in energy resources, both natural energy and human energy. We do not have an energy crisis in SA. What we have experienced instead is a serious management failure.But what gives hope in this mess of unfulfilled expectations is that there is still so much to be done that has been neglected by the myopic and closed-minded attitudes within government, Eskom and municipalities... ( more)
|
by Chris Yelland, EE Publishers
Eskom has announced further delays in first synchronisation of Unit 6 (the first generation unit to be synchronised to the grid) at Medupi power station. The project team at Eskom and the minister of Public Enterprises, Lynne Brown, had earlier committed to first synchronisation of Unit 6 at Medupi on 24 December 2014... (more)
|
by Dirk de Vos, QED Solutions
It is hard not to be depressed about Eskom. The utility is not just another state-owned enterprise (SOE) in perpetual crisis; it is far more important than that. It represents almost our entire electricity system. Eskom has a firm grip around our collective throats. If it fails, it drags the rest of us down with it... (more)
|
Managing the grid in a changing climate
by Dr. Lawrence Jones, Alstom
Dr. Lawrence Jones, who leads Alstom Grid's Utility Innovations & Infrastructure Resilience activities in North America, says that the electricity grid was not designed for big temperature swings, and that proactive steps should be taken to make it resilient to changing weather patterns. While mitigation is important, experts agree that adaptation is necessary... (more)
|
Temporary power in hostile environments
by Meghana Millin, Altaaqa Global
 Operating in hostile environments increases the temporary power provider's duty of care. A hostile environment is generally defined as an unstable and insecure environment, where periods of unrest are caused by uncontrolled elements making the host country or the settlement an environment of conflict and unsafe operation... (more)
|
Our somewhat tragic "happenings" in the power field in the recent past has prompted me to reflect on how history will view our local developments in electrical engineering when historians put together the story of the second century,1960 - 2060. While it is impossible to foresee what technological advances will be achieved in the next 45 years we can at least reflect on the past 54 years... (more)
|
The Jacob Marley column: A good credit rating
This time of the year, as everything winds down (except load-shedding), as old cracks become jokes and rains traditionally flood coal stockpiles (but water remains in short supply), while rock painted black is peddled as coal, when water seeps into cable casings and maintenance and - particularly - catering budgets, are overstretched, is truly a reflective time... (more)
|
Safer, cheaper nuclear: the simple molten salt reactor
by Ian Scott, Molex Energy
Nuclear energy has become cursed by high capital costs. To a substantial extent these high costs are a response to additional safety and containment systems which have been mandated since the Chernobyl and Fuskushima disasters... (more) |
by Mike Rycroft, EE Publishers
The general view on nuclear power plant is that it is rigid and inflexible in output and is only suitable for baseload operation. This is not correct, and nuclear power plants can operate flexibly... ( more)
|
Power transformer fleet condition assessment and risk management
by T McGrail and K Elkinson, Doble Engineering
One of the most difficult aspects of fleet management is how to deal with the unknown. When dealing with hundreds, if not thousands, of assets, the unknown must be managed, and when possible, assessed such that it becomes known... ( more) |
by Mike Rycroft, EE Publishers
The smart grid has resulted in a number of new approaches to electricity distribution and reticulation, one of which is the microgrid. The extension of this concept to a microgrid based on DC, in the voltage range designated as low voltage for AC, offers a number of advantages... (more)
|
by Kai Hencken and Thomas Christen, ABB
Boundaries often govern the result of a simulation even though they only occupy a small part of the whole system. Hence, in obtaining meaningful numerical simulations, appropriate boundary conditions can play a decisive role... ( more) |
by Mike Rycroft, EE Publishers
Thermal processes for the production of fuels such as liquid hydrocarbons and hydrogen from hydrocarbon gas and carbon dioxide are well established, but all use fossil fuels as an energy source... (more)
|
by Kevin Norris, Jasco Power and Energy
Energy costs continue to increase year-on-year, and while the national energy regulator (NERSA) has limited electricity price hikes to just 8% over the past few years, this will likely increase in 2015... (more)
|
by Mike Rycroft, EE Publishers
In the case of large electric motors, failure of the terminations can result in the failure of the whole system and effective monitoring of these seemingly insignificant parts is important... (more)
|
by Mike Rycroft, EE Publishers
Water takes a close second to energy as the commodity most under pressure in the future, and the least available. Energy can be produced, but the supply of fresh water is totally dependant on weather and climatic conditions... (more)
|
Compiled by Peter Adams, EE Publishers
- Tanzania funds power expansion
- Is renewable sustainable in Africa?
- Sierra Leone plans solar park
- $40-million for Rwanda hydro project
- Ethiopia biomass plant planned
- Nigerian power station upgrade
- Uganda starts geothermal department
- 100 MW solar plant planed for Zimbabwe... (more)
|
Views, comment and opinion
|
|
