South Africa’s mining industry is facing challenges that range from pressures on commodity prices through to increasing costs of simply getting ore out of the ground. A primary concern for mining companies is the spiralling costs of energy. The decision to appoint Ensight Energy Solutions has seen the Palabora Mining Company save R95-million to […]
Rob Davies, the minister of trade and industry, opened a clean energy power plant at Anglo American Platinum’s Waterval platinum smelter complex near Rustenburg recently. The power plant recovers energy from the heat generated by the smelter and converts it to electrical energy which is used on-site to reduce the company’s demand from Eskom. […]
The electricity supply sector, for most, has to be one of the most boring sectors around. Electricity production is a simple process but operated on a huge scale. The sector has high capital costs but the product never changes so risks are low. For all the differences in geography, political systems and wealth of […]
Participants in the energy sector gathered recently to recognise companies that have demonstrated excellence in energy projects, and innovative individuals who have become role models for the industry. The 2015 SANEA/SANEDI Energy Awards banquet and ceremony, which took place on 17 September 2015 at the Maslow Hotel in Sandton, was attended by 140 guests […]
As negotiations over South Africa’s nuclear energy programme continue, the economic impact of supply chain localisation will be of significant interest to local service providers. In fact previous announcements have highlighted that as much as 70% of the new build programme will be handed to South Africa’s local suppliers. To identify opportunities for your company, […]
Photovoltaic (PV) plant operators are keen to adopt energy storage if the grid operator demands a certain ramp rate from their output. It is critical to assess how various stakeholders perceive energy storage and what sort of developments can be expected in the solar PV arena. Energy storage today can allow utility-scale PV to […]
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 States, western India, South Africa, and Australia. While many commercial CSP plants are operating at present […]
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 proposition of viable solutions is necessary. There are two main challenges today in the solar photovoltaic (PV) market: […]
Khobab and Loeriesfontein wind farms celebrated the start of construction on 8 September 2015, with a ground breaking ceremony attended by guests representing the local municipalities. The two wind farms, situated alongside each other within the Hantam Municipality in the Northern Cape, will comprise 61 wind turbines each with a combined output of 280 […]
Renewable energy continued to grow in 2014 against the backdrop of increasing global energy consumption, particularly in developing countries, and a dramatic decline in oil prices during the second half of the year. Despite rising energy use, for the first time in four decades, global carbon emissions associated with energy consumption remained stable in […]
