E-Newsletter for the Power & Energy Sectors of Southern Africa
Issue 91, Sept 2015
Energy wars are over, sustainability has won by Johan van den Berg, South African Wind Energy Association
South Africa's unique position in its electricity sector causes a fact not yet universally acknowledged to be increasingly self-evident to us: renewable energy is the way to go. It is cheap, clean and able to support... (more)
A new Africa energy world: more positive power utilities outlook by Angeli Hoekstra, PwC
Africa faces a huge electricity demand challenge. Existing infrastructure is insufficient to meet current requirements, let alone the growth of the coming decades. Installed power capacity is expected to rise from 2012's 90 GW... (more)
SA's energy solution requires more than nuclear by Paul Fitzsimons and Urishanie Govender, GIBB
South Africa needs to look at ways to diversify its power-generating capacity. Nationally, coal is our main source of energy with a 42 000 MW generating capacity and we have always been heavily dependent on coal. At present... (more)
The potential for biogas in Africa by Alex Marshall, Clarke Energy
When thinking about renewable energy it's common to think of wind power and solar. However there is massive potential in Africa for the utilisation of renewable gas for power generation. Some naturally occurring... (more)
This month, Energize's readers wrote in response to the cost of renewable energy, and address what is currently being done about state of electricity production and deficit in South Africa... (more)
Brighter Africa: growth potential of sub-Sahara electricity sector by Antonio Castellano, Adam Kendall, Mikhail Nikomarov and Tarryn Swemmer, McKinsey
Sub-Saharan Africa is starved for electricity. The region's power sector is significantly underdeveloped, whether we look at energy access, installed capacity, or overall consumption. The fact that sub-Saharan Africa's residential and industrial sectors suffer... (more)
Taking energy efficiency more seriously
by Roger Lilley, EE Publishers
Over 100 men and women from institutes of higher education, the City of Cape Town, the public power utility, and industry gathered to attend the twelfth annual Industrial and Commercial Use of Energy (ICUE) conference recently. The conference, which was... (more)
Proposal for improved nuclear fuel by utilising thorium
by Marina du Toit, North West University and Sunil Chirayath, Texas A&M University
The world is facing the reality of increasing electricity demand and depleting natural resources. The recent focus on clean energy and security of supply has forced countries to diversify their electricity grid in order to become less dependent on fossil fuels such... (more)
Utility embedded generation from water, waste
by Mike Rycroft, EE Publishers
Existing infrastructure and service facilities of municipalities and municipal utilities hold a number of hidden energy sources which could be re-used to generate electricity in an embedded configuration for use by the municipality. This article... (more)
Understanding dynamic load-bearing capacity
by Lucas Kehl, Lapp Group
Choosing the best cable for an industrial application is one of the most critical design decisions of any complex automated system. That said, cable selection is often an afterthought and not given the time or respect it deserves. As the lifeblood of the system... (more)
Power quality issues in distribution networks
by Mike Rycroft, features editor, EE Publishers
The increasing application of energy savings devices, the move towards the smart grid and the increasing appearance of distributed generation as well as own generation using inverters has all impacted energy usage, and at the same time has... (more)
Safety and portability in circuit breaker testing
Information from ISA
A high voltage circuit breaker is the most important component of a HV substation as it has the crucial task of removing the fault, no matter what the fault current is. Even a nominal current could be difficult to open as 2000 A on a 380 kV line would equate... (more)
Making the most of solar thermal energy
by Makoto Nakauchi, Yokogawa
Concentrated solar power (CSP) generation uses solar radiation to generate electricity from solar thermal energy. This power generation is employed in regions of high solar insolation, especially in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the United... (more)
Creating a storage enabled smart grid
by Christophe Goasguen, Imeon Energy
With the rise of coupled solar and storage systems, there are challenges which must be addressed, notably claims of grid instability resulting from solar generation. A careful examination of the current situation from different perspectives, and... (more)
Positive demand side management: balancing renewable energy sources
by Mike Rycroft, EE Publishers
Demand side management (DSM) is normally associated with encouraging or forcing a reduction in maximum demand to enable a constrained generation capacity to match demand. However, the introduction of variable renewable energy sources into... (more)
Solar solutions for low cost housing
by Ghumaid Abdurahman, EES Africa
South Africa faces an immense challenge to address the backlog in the construction and delivery of quality, low cost housing. While there are a number of initiatives underway, there is said to be a backlog of about 2,3-million houses. Integral to the construction of... (more)
Power Developments in Africa
Compiled by Aimée Clarke, EE Publishers
Nigeria to build 70 MW solar facility
Investment for Ghana's gas project
Wind farm to boost Kenya's power grid
75 MW PV project for Morocco
West Africa's first large-scale solar plant
Kenya plans 1 GW solar PV project
Botswana seeks bids to build solar plants for mines
Nigeria's biggest hydropower plant under construction
Egypt seeking renewable energy bids
Ethiopian hydroelectric plant almost complete... (more)
