As with any power infrastructure, wind farms have a visual impact which needs to be considered when assessing the environmental impact of the plant. There is a common opinion that wind turbines are erected without any consideration of the visual impact, but this is not the case as a detailed assessment of this factor is […]
Windaba 2017, the annual conference of the South African Wind Energy Association, was held in Cape Town on 15 and 16 November 2017, with the theme of “Wind power building futures”. This article summarises the main issues and themes of the conference and exhibition. The Windaba conference was accompanied by the WindAc conference , which […]
Fly ash is the fine particles carried in the output of the furnace in a power station. Fly ash is removed by precipitation before the chimney stack. Fly ash consists mainly of minerals and generally has a large percentage of aluminium and silica compounds, as well as small concentrations of rare earths. This article is compiled […]
Reverse osmosis and distillation are common methods of water desalination, but energy requirements are high. Forward osmosis is a recent development that promises to reduce energy costs and operational complexity, as well as the ability to make use of low quality waste heat. Water desalination is becoming increasingly important with the pressure placed on natural […]
Electricity prices in South Africa have increased sharply in the past decade, and we are no longer one of the cheapest countries in the world. Future price hikes are likely to push us even higher. The relatively high cost of electricity is affecting energy intensive industries, and special pricing deals are being considered to alleviate […]
Motor starters limit the inrush current and provide a managed start of the motor. Modern starters provide much more than just current limitation. The inrush current in 3-phase induction motors varies from five to seven times the rated current. In some applications, this level of inrush current may cause a significant voltage drop in the […]
Flow batteries have been around for several decades but until recently have been scaled for utility sized operation. Recent developments have produced smaller units which are finding application in industrial networks. A bank of such units manufactured by Redflow, was recently installed at the premises of Bosco in Johannesburg. The ZBM2 flow battery unit, which […]
High voltage DC (HVDC) systems have proved their worth in the transmission of electricity over long distances. DC network technology is being extended to medium voltage (MVDC) and low voltage (LVDC) networks, where there are significant advantages for certain types of network. DC is being considered as an alternative to AC in sparsely populated areas, […]
Battery storage systems offer a convenient means of handling the problems of voltage control, load levelling and power quality in MV distribution networks with distributed generation. The development of intelligent charge controllers and the drop in cost of batteries makes this an attractive alternative to other means. The impact and usefulness of distributed energy storage […]
I have long held the opinion that energy storage was the next big hurdle to be overcome in the transition to a secure and reliable energy future. It seems that storage has finally come into its own, and is being actively considered by all sectors of the industry, from end-user installations to utility-scale generation plant. […]
