E-Newsletter for the Power & Energy Sectors of Southern Africa
Issue 93, Nov/Dec 2015
Balancing the energy mix: are fossil fuels really so bad? by Roger Lilley, EE Publishers
The use of coal and gas is often viewed by environmentalists as being dirty and the cause of climate change. Although some dangerous gases and particulates are emitted when fossil fuels are combusted, modern... (more)
Eskom: from a crisis of capacity, to a crisis of rising prices, declining demand and funding by Chris Yelland, investigative editor, EE Publishers
An energy sector leader recently observed that the electricity crisis in South Africa is maturing (perhaps like cheese), from generation capacity issues, to issues of the electricity price, tariffs, the price elasticity of demand, and the capacity of Eskom to finance its generation, transmission and distribution activities... (more)
Anthropogenic climate change: unanswered (and unasked) questions by Mike Rycroft, features editor, EE Publishers
Anthropogenic climate change (ACC) theory is having an immense effect on the power generation industry. Programmes introduced to combat climate change have huge financial and other implications for the industry, and... (more)
The Jacob Marley column: Molefe shows his muscle
Sure it must count as one of the most significant events in the South African energy calendar this year. After a nail-biting six months, our large, monopolistic state-owned utility has a fresh new, permanent CEO. Welcome on board, Brian Molefe, the fix-it man... (more)
Statistically speaking: Proudly statistically South African by Dr. Vincent Micali, Stats4Buz
Shaky statistics often cause anguish to a decision maker; especially when the latter operates in bullish and bearish markets aspish ("pertaining to") in econometrics. Indeed, Statistics can be garish in the results they produce... (more)
Economic growth, leadership and energy by Rob Jeffrey, Econometrix
The important role that coal has played in South Africa's economic development is often downplayed in the modern world where fossil fuels are often denigrated. The fact is that coal supplies over 70% of the country's... (more)
Independent power generation in Southern Africa
by Mike Rycroft, EE Publishers
Independent power producers (IPPs) are mainly understood to be renewable energy projects and the main programme, the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (REIPPPP), has focussed on this sector. There are however... (more)
Critical parameters of alternators for grid code compliant generators
by Sridhar Narayanan, Cummins Generator Technologies
The liberalisation of the energy market, combined with growing energy demand, has led to an exponential growth in the number of embedded power plants. Unlike grids made up of large power plants, grids made of many smaller grids tend to be unstable. To minimise the... (more)
Substation gets protection upgrade
by Mario Tiran, Consolidated Power Projects
Fordsburg substation, as one of three major bulk intake substations for City Power from the 275 kV Eskom network, supplies a large portion of southern Johannesburg and surrounding areas. It has an installed capacity of 1000 MVA with 4 x 250 MVA 275/88 kV... (more)
HVDC connection of offshore wind power plants
Information from Cigr�
Driven by the EU's 20% renewable energy target by 2020, the first wave of voltage-source converters (VSC) for high voltage, direct current (HVDC) connected offshore wind power plants (WPPs) have been commissioned around the world, but with a notable... (more)
Eskom's power transmission development plan
by Mike Rycroft, features editor, EE Publishers
The Eskom transmission development plan (TDP) represents the transmission network infrastructure investment requirements and covers a ten year window. The plan is adapted and modified on an annual basis to accommodate changes in both generation... (more)
Hybrid systems: key to managing grid connected PV systems
by Mike Rycroft, features editor, EE Publishers
Hybrid systems have traditionally been seen as large network connected units consisting of more than one technology. The development of smart inverters has led to the application of hybrid principles to smaller grid connected systems that can... (more)
Renewable energy bid selection and allocation criteria in SA flawed
by Pierre Potgieter and Chris Yelland, EE Publishers
The current bid selection criteria of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement (REIPPP) programme's narrow evaluation and spatial blindness favours projects that are not necessarily the least-cost option for renewable energy at the... (more)
Electrical machine vibration: causes and controls
by Mike Rycroft, features editor, EE Publishers
All rotating machines, no matter how well designed and manufactured, exhibit vibration of some form when operating. Excessive vibration can cause damage to the machine or reduce its lifetime, as well as damage to other items. This article examines the causes of... (more)
Energize Inbox
Letters from our readers
This month's winning letter was in response to an earlier article about energy efficiency measures and the rebound effect. Readers also wrote in about the REIPPP programme, and other topics which they found interesting... (more)
Protecting smart power grids and data networks
Information from DEHN Protection
In future, structures for power generation, transmission and distribution in the high, medium and low-voltage ranges will be more complex and flexible than they are today. New topics such as smart grid, smart metering or smart home require innovative solutions... (more)
Power Developments in Africa
Compiled by Aim�e Clarke, EE Publishers
Substantial energy resource found in Ghana
Foreign aid for increased energy access in Africa
Nigeria receives help to bring gas home
Drought causes closure of hydropower plants
Phase 1 of Africa's largest CSP plant near completion
Solar energy kiosks for Madagascar
Namibian gas to power project gets the go-ahead
Work to start at Botswana CTL plant
Kenya bets on solar to bridge its power gap... (more)