Johannesburg executive mayor Mpho Phalatse said to date South Africans across all municipalities have installed an estimated 200MW of rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems, according to the energy regulator Nersa.

She was speaking on the first day of the Joburg Energy Indaba where the city and independent power producers (IPPs) are in conversation about the need to add alternative power to the grid.

The city plans to add 500MW of gas and solar energy to supplement coal power.  

Last year the city said it was looking to add 200MW of electricity from photovoltaic farms and rooftop suppliers, 200MW of private photovoltaic electricity generation to the grid, 50MW of gas-powered electricity generation and 25MW capacity from waste in the Robinson Deep landfill site.

As an example of how this translates, a presenter at the indaba, Justin Ward, the technical manager for First National Battery, said 1MW would power 164 houses.

Phalatse said bringing independent power producers (IPPs) online would take 18-36 months.

“As wholesale electricity tariffs rise, we can expect more rooftop PV systems to be installed. This threatens to reduce the city’s energy revenues, and we are best advised to be proactive in providing alternative energy solutions for our residents.

“The adoption of storage technologies based on battery systems or other options continues to grow as they become relatively cost-effective. Small-scale embedded generation through biomass, biogas and municipal waste are areas holding great potential for creating a circular economy around waste management, but we have hardly seen investment of sizeable quantity in that space.”

Read more..........

There are several pitfalls when using solar power that can result in things going wrong during the insurance claims stage, warns Elite Risk MD Tarina Vlok.

Elite Risk is a specialist high net worth insurer and subsidiary of Old Mutual Insure.

Wealthy South Africans are reducing their reliance on Eskom’s national grid by partially or fully converting their households to solar energy.

Some wish to escape the ever-increasing price hikes, and others want a reliable power supply free from load-shedding interruptions. Many want to do their part for the planet by using cleaner energy.

However, homeowners should ensure their solar installations comply with regulations, so they do not run into issues with their insurer down the line.

“The installation of solar geyser systems differs immensely from that of an electrical system and is subject to strict regulations,” said Vlok.

“We often have to reject claims or are unable to replace geysers because the previous installation did not comply with regulation.”

Full solar energy installations are expensive — ranging from R80,000 for small grid-tied systems to over R500,000 to take a larger house completely off-grid.

“If you are spending this kind of money on a solar system, then it makes sense to work with qualified technicians and installers who know what they are doing,” said Vlok.

“You don’t want any regrets should you need to ever claim from your insurer.”
Advertisement

Vlok noted that an engineer’s certificate must be issued for all solar geyser installations of 300 litres or more.

She also encouraged clients to ensure that their solar geyser systems are installed by technicians who are well versed with the regulations and supported by the appropriate engineering professionals.

“Policyholders should make sure that their installer demonstrates that they are familiar with the technical regulations relating to solar installations,” said Vlok.

She summarised them as follows:

Installers must ensure that the roof structure can support the solar system. (SANS 10106:2014 5.3.1)
Where it is impossible to comply, a professional engineer or registered technologist must design the installation so that the standard’s safety and performance principles are incorporated. (SANS 10254 2017 4.1.1.2 and SANS 10106 2014 4.1.7)
Water heaters or storage tanks with a capacity of 200 litres or more may not be attached to a wall. (SANS 120252–1 2012 8.4.6.5)
The solar system must be installed so that it does not accelerate the deterioration of the roof. (SANS 10400-L, SANS 10243, and SANS 10252–1)
To avoid catastrophes when it comes to the claims stage, Vlok encouraged policyholders to use their insurer’s network to find accredited technicians and installers who can put the right solutions in place.

“If your electrical geyser bursts and you want to replace it, some specialist insurers will offer you the opportunity to use the claim payment to pay either in part or full for a solar geyser system instead of a new electric geyser,” Vlok said.

Source>>>>>>

Inseco, which operates the biggest insect protein plant in the southern hemisphere, said it raised $5.3 million (R81.6 million) in South Africa’s biggest ever startup seed funding round.

Futuregrowth Asset Management contributed alongside E4E Africa and Oak Drive Ventures, Inseco said in a statement sent to Bloomberg on Thursday.

Inseco operates a 10,000 square meter (108,000 square foot) plant in Cape Town that converts the larvae, known as maggots, of the black soldier fly into 100 tons of insect oil and meal a month.

Insect products are high in nutrients and, because the process sees the maggots fed with waste, is seen as a climate-friendly way of feeding farmed fish, poultry and pets.

Fly eggs are produced at Inseco’s plant and then transported to where the waste is produced, either as a by-product of a food-manufacturing process or so-called canteen waste, from restaurants.
Advertisement

While the latter can be used in South Africa, laws in the European Union do not permit its use to create feed for poultry and aquaculture.

Inseco plans to start exports to the EU and the U.S. in the second quarter.

“We are finding a new home for food products that would have been otherwise destined for landfill,” Simon Hazell, Inseco’s chief executive officer, said in an interview.

The meal is used to feed poultry and fish as a supplement to fishmeal, made from small fish netted in the sea, cutting down on its use, Hazell said. The use of insect protein boosts growth and it also has immune system boosting properties, Hazell said.

Futuregrowth, South Africa’s biggest specialist fixed-income investor, has invested in a number of startups including SweepSouth, Africa’s largest online home-services platform.

Inseco competes globally with enterprises such as the Netherlands’ Protix BV, France’s Ynsect SAS and Innova Feed, Canada’s Enterra Feed Corp and U.S. company EnviroFlight LLC.

The company is targeting what it sees as a 500,000 ton market for insect protein by 2030 and a global pet food market worth $38 billion.

Source>>>>>>

THE South African Breweries (SAB) has signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with a black-woman owned industrial scale biogas waste-to-energy company, Bio2Watt. The renewable energy will be supplied from the Cape Dairy Biogas Plant once it reaches commercial operation.

Construction of Cape Dairy plant, located in Malmesbury is expected to commence in July/August this year and will start feeding approximately 4,8MW into the national grid by second half of 2023, all of which will be taken up by SAB at its various breweries around the country.

Founder and managing director of Bio2Watt, Sean Thomas explained that the PPA with SAB is similar to the successful PPA the company has with BMW South Africa, who have been off taking approximately 3MW of power for its vehicle building operation at Rosslyn in Pretoria for the past seven years.

In the wake of its success with the first South African biogas project in Bronkhorstspruit, Bio2Watt will build, own and operate its second commercial biogas project in the country. The project is housed in a special purpose vehicle – The Cape Dairy Project (Pty) Ltd.
Advertisement

​The Cape Dairy Biogas Project is located on one of SA’s biggest dairy farms, Vyvlei Dairy farm owned by Morester, with its principal business being the supply of milk to the dairy industry from an estimated 7 000 dairy cows permanently residing on the farm. The project makes use of considerable quantities of slurry manure with a mix of other waste streams available within the surrounding region. The location provides the plant with proximity to key fuel supplies, grid access and sufficient grey water from water collection dams.

SAB’s holding company Anheuser-Busch InBev’s global 2025 sustainability targets for climate action are that 100% of its purchased electricity will come from renewable sources and carbon emissions will be reduced by 25% across its value chain.

“Under this Power Purchase Agreement and installed renewable electricity, SAB will achieve 23% contracted renewable electricity” says VP of Procurement and Sustainability in Africa, Conor Ruff.

All of SAB’s Breweries in South Africa already use solar power, which we are currently expanding and the Alrode brewery in Johannesburg is also making use of a biogas facility.

Pioneers in the alternative energy field, Bio2Watt have successfully secured a number of firsts for South Africa, including the ground breaking Bronkhorstspruit Biogas Plant which began supplying power in 2015.

A range of other inventive biogas projects are currently in development. These independent commercial enterprises will contribute to diversifying the South African energy mix away from coal, which today still forms over 90% of South Africa’s total electricity generation capacity.

Thomas explained that Bio2Watt’s ‘purely green energy’ approach is two-fold: the production of clean energy from a variety of natural sources and the utilisation of what typically goes into landfills in the energy generation processes, thereby assisting in the decrease of water and air pollution.

Source>>>>>

​Healthy batteries should main­tain a capacity above 9% of the manufacturer’s rating; most manufacturers recommend replacing the battery if it falls below 80%. A series of regular tests are recommended for ensuring that batteries are maintaining capacity. When conduct­ing battery tests, look for these indicators of failure:

Drop incapacity of more than 10% compared to the baseline or previous measurement
20% or more increase in resistance compared to baseline or previous
Sustained high temperatures, compared to baseline and manufacturer’s specs
Degradation in plate condition
The Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers (IEEE) is the primary source of standard practices for battery maintenance. Over the life of the battery, The IEEE recommends performing a combination of tests periodically as seen in the chart below.
​Advert

Inspections recommended by IEEE 1188 standard “Recommended Practice for Maintenance, Testing and Replacement of Valve-Regulated Lead-Acid (VRLA) Batteries for Stationary Applications”

The IEEE also recommends the following schedule for discharge testing:

An acceptance test made at the manufacturer’s factory or upon initial installation
Periodic discharge testing—at an interval not greater than 25% of the expected service life, or two years, whichever is less
Annual discharge testing—when any battery has reached 85% of the expected service life or dropped >10% from capacity
Since scheduling full-scale discharge testing can be difficult, good regular maintenance is extremely important. By operating the battery according to manufacturer charging requirements and following the IEEE recommendations for battery testing, it should be possible to maximize the life of the battery system.

Contact COMTEST on + 010 595 1821, sales@comtest.co.za or www.comtest.co.za for more information on Fluke battery testing systems, technical or seminar information, demonstrations or to locate your nearest Authorised Comtest Channel Partner.
Source........

​South African-based energy company Sakhumnotho Power and energy development company Keren Energy Investment have partnered for a proof of concept (POC) for green hydrogen production in South Africa. The partnership will assess the viability to produce green hydrogen at a site in Vredendal, Western Cape.

Representing the first POC undertaken in the country to assess the feasibility of green hydrogen production using solar, the POC site location already has a 100-kW photovoltaic solar system installed. If successful, the project will enable the generation of clean power, thereby reducing South Africa’s reliance on fossil fuels and enhancing domestic installed capacity.

Chairman of Sakhumnotho Group Holdings, Professor Sipho Mseleku, noted that, “We are cognisant that oil and gas are not going to be the only fuel sources in the future. We understand that we have to invest in a portfolio of power sources which will include oil and gas, renewable energy, as well as hydrogen in order to innovate and grow our investment portfolio into the future.”

Coal is currently the predominant energy source in South Africa. Now, with the POC undertaken, green hydrogen could emerge as both a competitive and increasingly important energy source in the southern African country.
​
​Advert - Our value Member

An international startup is aiming to break its way into a new generation of energy production by toppling more world records than one. 
Quaise Energy, a geothermal energy company born from MIT, has set its sights on harnessing the unlimited renewable energy that exists beneath the earth’s surface. To do so, Quaise plans on drilling holes at least twice as deep as the deepest holes ever created (i.e. Russia’s Kola Superdeep Borehole and Qatar’s Al Shaheen oil well, each of which sit at about 7.5 miles deep), which, according to CEO Carlos Araque, would generate power “at a scale far greater than wind and solar.” ​
Advert - Our valued member

Geothermal energy is made up of heat produced deep inside the earth. This heat is the result of the gradual radioactive breakdown of radioactive particles in the earth’s core (a process that occurs with all rocks, despite the negative connotation of the word “radioactive”). Given the continuous nature of this decay, the earth is constantly producing geothermal energy, making it a fantastic renewable energy source—if we can reach it. Because of how deep underground this form of energy exists, most geothermal energy plants are built near volcanoes or tectonically active fault lines. But this limits the number of regions that can benefit from geothermal energy, which is why Quaise seeks to dig unusually-long access holes instead. 

To achieve its mission, Quaise plans on using gyrotrons, a specific type of vacuum tube that shoots millimeter-wave light beams, to burn holes into the earth. Gyrotrons are capable of burning holes about 12 miles deep, allowing Quaise to facilitate the water-into-steam sequence that effectively produces usable energy. A single super-deep hole will take a few months to burn, but once finished, each will be capable of supplying energy to a region for up to 100 years. If all goes to plan, Quaise will be busy retrofitting coal-fueled power plants into geothermal energy hotspots by 2028.

Though some parts of the world utilize geothermal energy more than others, this form of energy currently only powers a small fraction of civilization. Quaise believes that finding a way to safely harness geothermal energy in more areas around the globe could be the key to reducing humans’ ever-lasting reliance on fossil fuels, which remains only slightly reduced by (relatively) recent solar and wind power developments.

​Source>>>>>>>>

Much has been made of the employment potential of the energy transition – particularly in the labor-intensive world of solar – but a glance at the vacancies section of the AFSIA website hints at just how transformative photovoltaics could be for youth unemployment across Africa.

Of the 97 solar industry vacancies listed on our website just four days ago, more than half – 50 of them – were for candidates with less than three years’ experience. That is remarkable.

While we eagerly await the results of the next off-grid clean energy jobs census currently being conducted by Power For All with the support of AFSIA among others, here at AFSIA we are busily preparing to launch a Solar Academy in a bid to equip candidates with vital industry skills and match them up with the firms who are recruiting at pace as the solar industry booms across the continent.

We want to steer potential solar industry recruits of all ages and backgrounds towards the e-learning courses that will give them the skills recruiters desperately want, as Africa’s solar companies take part in what Miguel Stilwell told Bloomberg in June was “a war over talent, globally.” The CEO of Portuguese energy company EDP Renovaveis SA was discussing the lack of trained workers to drive through the energy transition at the rate needed to achieve a net-zero global economy by mid century. With AFSIA tracking 7,000 African solar businesses, that shortage is felt as keenly here as in any other global market and we want to do our bit to realize the full benefits of the PV jobs dividend.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in October estimated the world would see 43 million clean energy jobs by mid century and said the number had leapt from 11.5 million in 2019 to 12 million in 2020, despite the effects of the Covid pandemic that was enveloping the globe.

Of those 12 million clean power jobs two years ago, IRENA estimated 4 million were in the solar industry. UN body the International Labour Industry – which jointly produced the Renewable Energy and Jobs: Annual Review 2021 with IRENA – estimated the 7 million jobs to be lost in the fossil fuel and nuclear power industries this decade would be far outweighed by a net gain of 25 million new renewables positions, and added, 5 million of those due to lose their jobs because of the energy transition would be able to pivot to new, clean energy roles.
​Advert - Our Valued Member

By including solar jobs in sectors outside energy generation – although not even including electric vehicle-related roles – the Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology and the Austral University of Chile in August estimated there were 7 million direct jobs supported by the solar industry in 2020, with the number due to rise to 60 million by 2050.

How many of those positions will be in Africa, and filled by Africans? The Power For All census of off-grid renewables jobs in Asia and Africa last year might give us a reasonable idea.

The Power For All 2019 Job Census surveyed just three countries: Kenya, Nigeria, and India, but the San Francisco based Power For All campaign – which wants to provide universal access to electricity by 2025 – promised to expand its data collection to 25 nations last year.

The fast-evolving nature of the solar industry means those previous figures, in 2019, may already seem like ancient history but even that limited survey offered a clear view of the job creation potential of African off-grid solar, whether via the distribution and installation of single-home PV systems, clean mini-grids, or appliances with commercial benefits, such as solar-powered water pumps.

Already, in 2019, Power For All found the off-grid renewable sector in the three countries concerned employed as many people as conventional, grid-based power generation, with the decentralized clean energy workforce forecast to double by the 2022-23 fiscal year.

The census noted each direct clean energy position created in rural off-grid communities that had been provided with electricity for the first time, drove five times as many indirect jobs. In terms of job quality and satisfaction, the survey added clean power roles boasted better job retention rates than those observed in the traditional power industry.

Read more>>>>>>>>
​

The demand for solar energy is skyrocketing across the nation. This is great news!

However, as the solar industry grows and more companies compete for business, you might notice an uptick in misleading solar advertisements or sales practices — or even outright scams.

Various practices have come to our attention.

Solar energy pyramid schemes offering huge profits are being marketed to the general public to purchase "shares" in rooftop installations. They can normally be detected simply by doing the maths of what is being offered compared to actual electricity pricing.

Pyramid schemes are so named because they resemble a pyramid structure, starting with a single point on top, that becomes progressively wider toward the bottom.

Solar financing scams are also becoming rife. Bogus financiers will offer loans for solar installations insisting on a upfront payment for admin and legal fees. These "loans" will then be declined for various reasons.

The golden rules are always apparent.

Modern internet search technologies exist where these bogus companies can be verified.
If it appears to be too attractive, it normally is.

Our association will gladly attempt to confirm the validity of offers received by our members and their clients.

alwyn@saaea.org

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe confirmed on Tuesday that not all of the 11 Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP) preferred bidders would be in a position to conclude power purchase agreements (PPAs) at the end of March, the deadline for the projects to reach financial close.

During a Parliamentary debate on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent State of the Nation Address (SoNA), Mantashe said steps were being taken to address a current supply shortfall that the President estimated to be 4 000 MW, but which several commentators believe to be closer to 6 000 MW.

He said PPAs would be signed next month with RMIPPPP preferred bidders, which were selected as part of an emergency, albeit much delayed, procurement round for 2 000 MW.

The projects were selected in March last year and the initial financial close deadline of July was extended initially to the end of September, then to January this year and finally to the end of March.

“The challenge is that not all of the RMIPPPP preferred bidder projects may be in a position to conclude power purchase agreements due to outstanding processes on their side,” Mantashe told lawmakers.

His statement gels with the one made by Ramaphosa in his SoNA speech, in which the President announced that only 800 MW of the 2 000 MW in projects selected under the RMIPPPP were ready to proceed.
Advert

Given that three Karpowership projects comprised about 1 200 MW of the RMIPPPP allocation, there was immediate speculation that the projects, which face legal, environmental and gas-pricing uncertainty, were among those that were not ready to proceed.

Mantashe also announced that 2 600 MW of renewable energy being procured under Bid Window 5 of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme would enter into PPAs in April and announced that Bid Window 6 for another 2 600 MW of wind and solar would be launched at the end of March.

“Thereafter, additional bid windows, including Bid Window 7, will follow at six-month intervals.”

Read more........