With power utility Eskom struggling to keep the lights on in SA, renewable energy can provide some answers to the parastatal’s woes.

According to the Department of Energy (DOE), SA has a high level of renewable energy potential and presently has in place a target of 10 000GWh of renewable energy. The department has a goal of bringing 3 725MW to be generated from renewable energy.

Early this month, the DOE gave the go-ahead for SolarReserve and Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power to build a 100MW solar power plant in the country. The companies’ offer was accepted under the nation’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPP) that requires applicants to bid on the level of tariff, as well as value to the local and national economy.

“South Africa has made a very bold move forward with respect to clean power sources, in terms of the integrated resource plan (IRP) and its implementation in the form of REIPPP, and will achieve a renewables share of more than 5% within the next two years by introducing the already contracted new renewables capacities.

“That is a steep ramp-up rate. By 2030, as the IRP 2010 plans, the renewables share will grow to 14%.”

Source:  http://www.itweb.co.za/

The government is forging ahead with plans to spend as much as R1 trillion on new nuclear plants, ignoring objections from environmental activists, opposition parties, unions and even its own advisers.

Bids would be sought from the US, China, France, Russia and South Korea to add 9 600 megawatts of atomic power to the national grid to address energy shortages in Africa’s second-largest economy, President Jacob Zuma said in his annual State of the Nation address on Thursday. The first output was targeted for 2023, he said.

“We know exactly what we need,” Zuma said on Friday. “We are now well-informed. We are moving ahead.”

South Africa is turning to nuclear energy as an ageing fleet of coal-fired plants operated by state utility Eskom, the supplier of 95 percent of South Africa’s electricity, are unable to keep pace with the power demand. Rolling blackouts this month have curbed output at mines and factories and prompted a sell-off of the nation’s currency and bonds.

The rand reached a 13-year low against the dollar on Wednesday and foreigners dumped R6.9 billion of South Africa’s debt since February 3, when the outages began.

Detractors of the nuclear plan argue that the plants will be too costly, take too long to build and that the bidding process will be vulnerable to corruption. The National Development Plan, the government’s blueprint for growing the economy, recommended that alternatives be investigated, including the use of gas plants, which would be easier to finance and build.

More expensive

“Nuclear is not a wise choice for South Africa,” Anton Eberhard, a member of the National Planning Commission that advises on implementing the development plan and a professor at the University of Cape Town on February 11. “Nuclear energy will not enable us to resolve our immediate power crisis. It is more expensive than other energy options.”

A 20-year plan published by the energy minister in December 2013 said the decision on whether to build new nuclear plants could be delayed until at least 2025 to allow for a proper assessment of alternatives and likely power demand.

Areva, EDF, Toshiba’s Westinghouse, China Guangdong Nuclear Power, Rosatom and Korea Electric Power have expressed interest in building new plants in South Africa.

The DA said the nuclear bidding process had been clouded by secrecy and had the potential for corruption. The party called on Zuma to abandon it. The National Union of Mineworkers, an ally of the ruling ANC, said nuclear power was not a priority and more focus should be placed on completing two new coal-fired power stations that were running behind schedule.

Greenpeace, an environmental activist group, staged a protest against nuclear energy at an industry meeting in Cape Town on Thursday.

Source:  http://www.iol.co.za

Exports from South Africa’s Richards Bay Coal Terminal, the world’s largest single facility for the fuel, rose to a record in 2014.

The terminal shipped 71.2 million metric tons last year compared with 70.2 million tons 12 months earlier, Chief Executive Officer Nosipho Siwisa-Damasane told reporters at the port on Tuesday. It also received 72.4 million tons by rail, 2.8 percent more than in 2013. This is the second year that deliveries and exports have exceeded 70 million tons. The target for shipments was 72 million tons.

Faults on municipal power cables halted operations for 10 days in February, with the backlog cleared by the end of March. The facility seeks to handle about 74 million tons this year, and maintenance will be key, Siwisa-Damasane said. The country’s power utility is struggling to meet demand and has forecast a high probability of scheduled power cuts on most work days until the end of April.

Source:  http://www.moneyweb.co.za/

South Africa’s state utility, Eskom, is battling to meet the country’s demand for power – implementing an aggressive schedule of electricity load shedding to prevent the grid from collapsing. Unreliable power supply is prompting some to become increasingly self-sufficient, producing energy in their own homes from cleaner, renewable sources. In Johannesburg, keeping the lights on has become a challenge.

Years of poor maintenance, non-cost reflective tariffs and under-investment are partly to blame. Adding 7 million people to the grid since the beginning of democracy in 1994 and delays in new plant openings have also stretched its aging fleet of 27 plants to the breaking point.

Frustrated with epileptic power supply, South Africans are considering alternative power sources to reduce their dependence on the ailing grid. Renewables currently only meet about 2% of South Africa’s 30,000-megawatt needs.

Engineer Greg Ball depends on Eskom-generated power to supplement 5% of his family’s energy needs. Vast solar panels that cover the roof of his Johannesburg-home meet the rest of their demand with surplus electricity to power two electric cars.

“You think what kind of world are your kids going to grow up in. They are going to witness the end of oil …weather patterns that are extreme; they are going to experience the lot. You have to start developing an environmental conscience… I don’t want to be somebody who goes through their whole career and doing the same old, same old and dumping all these problems and issues onto my kids. If we can make just a very small difference individually, collectively it can be significant,” said Ball.

Detractors contend that coming off the grid is a luxury for those who can afford it. To equip the Ball family home with solar technology cost over $30,000. Ball argues that he has recouped the expense, saving about $7,500 annually on fuel alone.

Despite initial outlays, several solar companies in Johannesburg told VOA that recent power constraints have triggered a dramatic uptick in interest.

Ryan Beech is part of a Go Green Project for Parkhurst, an affluent Johannesburg suburb. The ambitious project aims to take all 2,000 houses off the grid and running on renewable energy by 2020.

“It’s going to be a complete going green from A to Z project. We are currently looking at all the technology out there from hydro to solar, wind. We are doing feasibility studies, looking at all possibilities. It is effectively going to be a game-changer for the country and other neighbourhoods will also follow,” said Beech.

With local governments earning approximately R25bn, or about $2 billion, a year from water and marked up electricity, there is likely to be resistance to losing 2,000 customers who pay some of the highest rates in the country.

But energy experts say South Africa must embrace cleaner energy and end its reliance on coal. As the fourth-largest coal exporting country in the world, South Africa’s coal-generated power makes it one of the world’s top carbon emitters.

Energy expert Chris Yelland argues the government should be looking at sustainable and greener energy options.

“No longer is coal a source of cheap energy for South Africa. It is also becoming a burden because of the CO2 emissions and the carbon footprint of Eskom – which is huge. There are a lot of good reasons why we should diversify away from coal and also a lot of good reasons, in my opinion, to diversify away from a single monopoly electricity supplier, especially one that is in financial trouble, operational trouble and has environmental problems because of this dependence on coal,” said Yelland.

Eskom’s financial woes could mean higher tariff costs in the future, which could encourage more people to turn to renewable energy.

Source:  http://www.voanews.com/