Projects and energy updates from South Africa

Development agendas to curb power woes

Sub-Saharan Africa is burdened with a complex and persistent electricity gap that is difficult to bridge in the medium to long-term owing to population growth, says intergovernmental partnership Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) programme officer Grania Rubomboras.

To address the increasing population growth issues, some development agendas have been formulated to curb the effect. These agendas – namely the UN Agenda 2030, African Union/PIDA 2063 and African Development Bank High – will build national and regional capacity to prepare bankable projects and implement them. 

“Each country must expand its electricity network and sub-regional planning. Countries like Zambia, Tanzania and Kenya have already implemented the Zambia-Tanzania-Kenya interconnection which has created a strong link between the EAPP and the SAPP,” says Rubomboras.

Altogether, grid connection and the creation of the electricity market will facilitate the evacuation of power from various generation sources for national as well as export purposes. 

Engineering News, 4 May 2018 

Zambia to complete 50 MW World Bank solar project in September

Zambia will complete its first large-scale 50 MW solar power generation plant in September this year. 

The US$60 million project in Lusaka is being financed through a combination of equity and debt and the power project is being undertaken with Neoen/First Solar. 

Engineering News, 8 May 2018

Coca-Cola Beverages to tap into solar energy

Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa (CCBSA) is installing rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) units, with a combined installed capacity of 10.4 MW, at 11 of its sites.

Under a 25-year power purchase agreement with renewable energy developer and strategic equity investor Mulilo Group, the plants will produce over 18 million kilowatt-hours a year of renewable energy for CCBSA. 10 sites will be completed by the end of the year, with the 11th expected to be completed by the end of February 2019.

The plants will also realise substantial savings in electricity drawn from the grid, while cutting carbon emissions by 14 000 t/y. 

Engineering News, 9 May 2018 

Busa welcomes announcement of plans to reopen consultations on IRP

Business Unity South Africa (Busa) has welcomed the announcement by Energy Minister Jeff Radebe, before the Portfolio Committee on Energy, that the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) be reopened for public consultation.

“We agree with the Minister that the finalisation of the IRP and the Integrated Energy Plan are vital for policy certainty in the energy sector,” Busa CEO Tanya Cohen said.

Busa has been consistent in its position that an updated IRP requires evidence and consultation to ensure that the plan is sustainable, affordable and geared towards inclusive growth. It further states that an updated IRP is required to place South Africa’s energy policy on a sustainable footing, and will provide the foundation for higher levels of economic growth. 

Engineering News, 9 May 2018

MIGA approves guarantees for three South African wind farms

MIGA, a member of the World Bank Group, announced guarantees of US$73 million in support of the construction, operation and maintenance of three wind farms in South Africa, namely, Noupoort, Khobab, and Loeriesfontein 2 wind farms. 

The wind farm projects will have a collective generation capacity of 360 MW and were selected as preferred bids during the third round of the South African Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (REIPPP).

“The wind farms will help diversify the country’s energy mix, and directly benefit local communities,” said MIGA executive Vice-President and CEO Keiko Honda. 

ESI Africa, 10 May 2018 

AfDB commits US$1.5m for Jigawa on-grid IPP programme

The African Development Bank (AfDB) board of directors have approved a US$1.5 million grant from the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) to support the Nigerian Government’s implementation of Phase 1 of the Jigawa 1 GW Independent Power Producer (IPP) Solar Procurement Programme. 

At full 1 GW capacity, the programme will assist the government to achieve its national goals of reaching 75% electricity access by 2020 and electrifying unserved and underserved areas, particularly in northern Nigeria where access rates are lowest and increasing the share of renewable energy in the energy mix to 30% by 2030.

ESI Africa, 10 May 2018

Lack of clarity on draft embedded generation regulations could prohibit compliance – Sola

Red tape and a lack of clarity in the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (NERSA’s) draft regulations on Small Scale Embedded Generation (SSEG) could well prove to be prohibitive factors, from a business and compliance perspective, says solar energy company Sola Future Energy CEO Dominic Wills.

Wills further says the draft regulations leave a lot of room for uncertainty and require much more clarity if the regulator hopes for compliance. 

The draft regulations now mandate the registration of off-grid and self-consumption systems, which could significantly increase the number of systems that need to be registered. The new regulations call for an additional registration of the system with NERSA, which could take up to an additional three months, resulting in a six to nine months’ wait for a project to be able to connect. 

Engineering News, 11 May 2018 

The above reflects a summary of certain news articles published during the preceding week.

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