Electricity could be delivered to more than a billion people currently living without it within a decade by linking up small-scale projects into a giant, environmentally-friendly network.

According to a new global commission, advances in micro energy grids and renewable energy technologies could “dramatically accelerate change” and transform lives in rural areas of sub-Saharan African and south Asia.

The Global Commission to End Energy Poverty met for the first time this week to set out plans to accelerate the UN’s sustainable development goal to ensure access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy for all people by 2030.

The commission, established by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Energy Initiative and the Rockefeller Foundation, plans to bring together leading investors, utilities and policymakers to tackle energy poverty.

Under the initiative, the distributed networks would help connect homes, businesses and schools to small-scale solar power projects to deliver cheap, sustainable electricity that can help power local economic growth.

The commission includes government leaders, energy industry chief executives and representatives from major development organisations, including Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency.

Dr Rajiv Shah, president of the Rockefeller Foundation and formerly of the US agency for international development, said “a whole new way of thinking” about energy distribution was required.

“We cannot end poverty without successfully ending energy poverty,” said Shah.

“For 140 years we’ve had this mindset that energy access means building big power plants and connecting them to grids, and that’s how you provide electricity.

“Today, new technology frontiers, business models, and our knowledge of alternatives is so strong that this commission will be able to set out a new roadmap to end the energy access problem for 1 billion people across the globe.”

The commission also plans to help set up new regulation in developing countries to accelerate the rollout of new energy systems, and make the projects more attractive to international investors.

“If I want to start a small solar-powered mini-grid programme in a rural part of an under-served country, I could be prevented from actually providing power without permission from the state-owned utility which might own that business opportunity,” Shah explained.

“That’s one of many policy roadblocks that is preventing distributed solutions from really being easy to invest in.”

Shah will co-chair the commission alongside Dr Ernest Moniz, a former US energy secretary,and Dr Akinwumi Adesina, the president of the African Development Bank.

Moniz warned that existing plans to end global energy poverty by 2030 are “not fast enough” and should be more ambitious.

“Twenty years ago, energy access might have been defined by having a 20-watt lightbulb. One doesn’t want to denigrate that – the shift from having no light to some light is major – but our ambition is more than that. We want energy access that allows for credible family, community and regional economic development. Frankly, we’d like it to allow for entrepreneurial activity too,” he said.

Moniz said that by relying on renewable energy, particularly solar power alongside batteries, developing nations should be able to attract investment in clean energy and rule out the need for future investments in coal-fired power plants. Adopting such methods could also halt the wood-burning that has led to mass deforestation in some countries, he said.

“Speaking personally, there is a lot of concern about a new round of investments in coal funded by Chinese development banks. There could be a lock-in of emissions for the future. We would rather see distributed [energy grid] architecture, including renewables, and potentially with a role for gas,” he said.

Shah added that economic development and the empowerment of women offered the best chance for a low-emissions future.

“If you’re a woman in rural Bihar and you’re able to all of a sudden access electricity, get a sewing machine, create an income, provide light for your daughter to study at night, it’s just transformational,” said Shah.

“We’ve seen the same thing in India and Myanmar and throughout Africa. This commission embarks upon this task with a huge amount of optimism and a real understanding of how important it is in the lives of so many people around the world.”

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A leaked Eskom vision and strategy document, apparently prepared by the Boston Consulting Group for Eskom, has revealed the next steps of a long-awaited restructuring and turnaround plan for the embattled utility.

The document was presented on 22 August 2019 to the Eskom Executive Forum, a group of about 600 senior Eskom managers and executives, by acting Eskom CEO Jabu Mabuza.

In the presentation, Mabuza admits that Eskom is in a utility death spiral with an outdated and unsustainable business model, operational and structural inefficiencies, and a lack of transparency, in a rapidly changing energy landscape.

The presentation further states that “Eskom ran out of cash and came close to complete collapse on multiple occasions in 2019”, and warns that if nothing is done “Eskom will collapse and bring down South Africa”.

The restructuring process revealed so far
The first step of the restructuring of Eskom was announced by the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, in his state-of-the-nation address on 7 February 2019. He indicated that the generation, transmission and distribution activities of Eskom will be split into three separate subsidiary companies owned by Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd.

The next step revealed by Mabuza in the presentation of 22 August will be to carve the transmission company out of Eskom Holdings into a separate, independent, state-owned company under the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE), to form an independent transmission system and market operator, or ITSMO.

After these first two steps, which the document indicates would have a timeframe of five years, Eskom would retain two of its major activities, namely generation and distribution, with each activity housed in a separate subsidiary company.

Thus, from the vision and strategy outlined in the document, it would appear that Eskom sees itself in the future as an electricity generation and distribution company, and not a transmission company.
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Further restructuring that may still follow
However, this would surely not be the end of the restructuring process, as the electricity generation and distribution activities of Eskom and municipalities are the two most troublesome and toxic hotspots that are in most need of restructuring.

Generation and distribution are also facing the biggest threats from disruptive technologies, in the form of utility-scale renewable energy, distributed embedded small-scale generation, and pervasive, consumer-empowering information and communication technologies (ICT).

In contrast, the current Eskom transmission group does not carry a lot of debt, arrear payments receivable, or people. Eskom’s transmission activities and assets are generally considered to be relatively well-managed, well-maintained and reliable, and this is the only part of Eskom that is seen to be functioning reasonably well.

So, to leave Eskom with the troublesome activities, toxic debt and municipal arrear payments of its un-restructured generation and distribution activities, with the crown jewels of transmission carved out and no longer forming part of its business, would be a fundamentally flawed and misguided vision and strategy.

It would perhaps be more rational and preferable for Eskom to morph from being primarily a generation company (as it is now), to becoming the state-owned ITSMO itself, and divesting from its problematic generation and distribution activities.

Thus, the as-yet unannounced end-state for the power generation and electricity distribution industries could perhaps comprise Steps 1 and 2 as already announced, but with Steps 3 and 4 still to follow, as detailed below.

Step 3 would be the creation of a competitive generation sector. This could be in the form of a handful of unbundled former Eskom generators, a limited number of public-private partnership (PPP) generators, a few hundred renewable energy and other independent power producers (IPPs), and several thousand distributed, small-scale, embedded generators.

This diverse group of generators would deliver generation capacity and energy to the ITSMO (in the form of a “new” rejuvenated Eskom), with the generators competing for access to the grid on level playing fields and on economic grounds via an electricity market managed by the ITSMO.

There could also be bilateral contracts between generators and customers, wheeling power through the grid, and paying wheeling fees to the ITSMO.

The final Step 4 of the restructuring process would surely have to be the rationalisation of the dysfunctional electricity distribution sector into a handful of financially viable and better resourced, independent, state-owned, regional electricity distributors (REDs), formed from the remnants of the current 185 municipal and six Eskom electricity distributors.

A competitive retail electricity sector selling electricity to consumers should also form part of the restructured electricity distribution industry, offering all manner of bundled retail pricing packages, as we see in other jurisdictions and sectors, such as for smartphone voice and data airtime.

Getting stakeholders on board.

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Long-term sustainable growth and development in South Africa will require a transition away from the country’s current coal-intensive energy system and economy towards an economy backed by an environment-friendly and renewable energy system.

The country is highly dependent on coal and is energy intensive. This plays out in an economy marred by a considerably high level of unemployment and inequality. Therefore, a transition is needed, speakers said during an Southern Africa-Towards Inclusive Economic Development workshop, in Pretoria, on Wednesday.

The workshop explored scenarios for South Africa’s transition from a coal-intensive energy system and economy towards a climate-friendly and renewable energy system.

Speakers at the workshop noted that while there was no clear, concrete picture of what this future system would entail, it was vital that the country was planning to move towards such a system.
Speaking at the workshop, University of Cape Town economist Faaiqa Hartley emphasised the importance of including renewables in the country’s energy mix.

She indicated that when not constrained, renewable energy presented a source of primary production of electricity.

Moreover, she highlighted that renewables allowed for considerable decarbonisation of the power sector.

Petrochemicals company Total on Monday inaugurated its 1000th solarised service station, based at the Total Palmeraie retail outlet, in Marrakech, Morocco.

The Palmeraie service station has 134 m2 of photovoltaic panels and will produce 45 MWh/y of power and reduce the retail outlet’s carbon emissions by 30 t/y.

This forms part of the company’s goal to solarise 5 000 of its service stations in 57 countries. It plans to accelerate work in the coming month to ensure it is able to implement solar power at about 1 000 service stations a year.

More than a third of the Total retail network stations worldwide will be equipped with high-efficiency SunPower solar panels at the end of the programme.

Through also solarising production sites and office buildings, the number of projects adds up to more than 200 MW at peak, equivalent to the total electricity demand of a city of 200 000 people, Total said in a statement on Monday.

Total marketing and services president Momar Nguer commented that the service stations that were equipped with solar panels were more independent of the grid and showcased the company’s knowledge and expertise in renewable energies.
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Consistent with Total’s ambition to become a responsible energy major, the programme will reduce the company’s retail network’s carbon emissions by more than 50 000 t/y.

“The milestone achievement reflects Total’s commitment to using solar power at our sites and our ability to support our industrial and commercial customers with cleaner, more affordable and safer electricity,” Total renewables VP Julien Pouget added. 

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A replicable, scalable, world-class Smart City in Abuja that provides all inhabitants with flexible, affordable, and accessible multimodal options at the lowest carbon footprint is being planned.

We have identified a 40 hectares along the Abuja International Airport road to develop a sustainable modern city that will serve as a model for smart urban development, linking affordable housing with climate change adaptation and mitigation measures.

• The World Bank estimated that Nigeria’s housing deficit stood at 17m units as of 2013, the country will require $360bn to close its housing deficit. • Given the country’s current urbanisation trends, Nigeria is set to be the world’s third-mostpopulous country in the world by 2050 and the population of Abuja forecast to double over the same period. • Mixed-use development is a major opportunity in Nigeria at present.

• The lack of adequate, affordable housing is a challenge that undermines social inclusion, equality, people's health and well-being, as well as sustainability • 17 million units housing deficit • Nigerian Population to double in 2050. • Lack of 24/7 power supply.

As the world becomes increasingly interconnected and technology-dependent, a new wave of smart applications is changing how we approach everyday activities. We are offering affordable circular economy powered Smart city in Abuja.

Abuja Smart City is a pilot project with the objective of demonstrating the viability of green cities in Nigeria with low carbon and climate resilient housing, infrastructure, public amenities and workplaces powered by clean energy in Abuja. We will develop a sustainable and prosperous urban mixed-use development with multiple green aspects incorporated within it, acting as a pilot to lead the way for further scaling up of Smart City projects in Nigeria. 

We will develop 800 stand-alone houses, 2000 flats, 100 commercial property in the city with green housing, infrastructure, mixed use, amenity, workplaces and small industries. Our target is the middleincome market that is expected to grow the fastest .
800 smart stand-alone houses, @ 50k USD per unit 2000 Flats, @25k USD  per unit 100 commercial property, @ 65K per unit 5 MW solar farm @ .20c Kwh 3 MW Biogas plant @.15KWh.

​The project will be carried out through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement with the Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development under Contractor Finance Initiative. 
Lagos is taking the lead in supplying middle class housing  with a vast array of new projects on the way. Orange Island is doing 150 hectares of land in Lekki, at an estimated cost of US$ 111 million. It should accommodate 25 000 people and be completed by 2019.  Our  developments are led are private sector driven, targeting  the middle and low income earners, offering world class amenities and management, we plan to dominate this market with a demonstration in Abuja.

• Our project will enhance quality of health and basic services that other developers do not provide in Nigeria including water, sanitation, clean energy, and waste management. • We operate a circular economy. • We ensure 24/7 clean energy, energy efficiency buildings and efficient masterplan • We create green jobs and opportunities.
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Since 2013, the residential energy storage business has been dominated by Germany. However, all could change as other countries further developments creating a competitive market.
As new residential markets gain momentum, German markets could be facing great competition.

As the market leader, German’s success, in the residential energy storage, can be accredited to vast amounts of support and funding. Germany has been benefiting from Europe’s largest energy storage subsidies which was made available by KfW national bank, who’s total asset worth is €472.3 billion.

Since funding began, the market has grown from nothing to over 125,000 systems. However, the funding is believe to just be responsibly for the market ‘getting on it’s feet. This is because, according to data from RWTH Aachen University in Germany, in 2018 only 4% of the German residential energy storage business were reliant on the KfW subsidies. This is a colossal difference to 2015 where roughly 55% of the industry was reliant on the KfW subsidies.

Countries like Australia are soon to follow suit. Due to increasing local policy support and further renewable and energy storage targets. The targets are applied to five of the six Australian state, indicating a possible spike in the Australian side of the residential energy storage game.

Installation in California are also thriving. This is due to the new ‘Self-Generation Incentive Program’, a budget set aside for the residential segment in 2017.

Luke Gear and Dr Xiaoxi He issued a report for IDTechEx named Batteries for Stationary Energy Storage 2019-2029. The report investigates the growth of the energy storage business. The Gear and He said: “2018 was a remarkable year for stationary energy storage. Governments and policymakers around the world are beginning to wake up to the value batteries can offer to the grid, both in terms of flexibility and decarbonisation. Over 6GWh was deployed, and market leaders such as Tesla expect to double their deployments for 2019.”

The cost of producing hydrogen gas with renewables is likely to plummet in the coming decades, making one of the most radical technologies for reducing greenhouse gases economical.

That’s the conclusion of an analysis by BloombergNEF, which said the most abundant element is likely to play a growing role in reducing pollution from power producers and industry.

The findings add to the potential for widespread use of hydrogen. While the gas has been hailed for decades as a carbon-free energy source, the cost and difficulty of making it has confined it mainly to niches like fueling rockets and helping upgrade blends of oil.

“Once the industry scales up, renewable hydrogen could be produced from wind or solar power for the same price as natural gas in most of Europe and Asia,” Kobad Bhavnagri, BNEF’s head of special projects, said in the report on Wednesday. “These production costs would make green gas affordable and puts the prospects for a truly clean economy in sight.”
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If produced on a large scale, hydrogen could feed into a range of applications, fueling long-haul transport and steelmaking and the manufacture of cement. Each of those industries requires the sort of energy hydrogen packs, delivering temperatures hot enough to melt metal and stone.

Those industries that are finding it difficult to remove emissions. Hydrogen can also be stored, shipped and used to produce electricity or fed into fuel cells that are increasingly appearing in cars and small power plants.

BNEF looked at how to generate hydrogen from renewable sources such as wind turbines and solar panels. It also examined how the gas that’s produced can be stored to provide energy at times when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine.

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The acting head of the Independent Power Producer Office (IPPO), Advocate Sandra Coetzee, has indicated that there should be “no surprises” in the bid documentation that will be released once procurement activities resume again, following a hiatus of nearly five years.

Coetzee, who stepped into the role in late July following the departure of Karen Breytenbach, tells Engineering News Online it is premature to offer detailed insight into the changes being considered. She confirms, however, that these adjustments will be guided by the principles of greater inclusivity and transformation, as well as affordability.

“With regard to procurement design, the team has done a considerable amount of work that is putting us in a good position for procurement as soon as determinations are in place after promulgation of the IRP.  We are actively engaging with our colleagues at the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) in this process."

The IPPO also intends having an “extensive” series of stakeholder engagements ahead of the release of the documentation to ensure the bankability of programmes and that they remain attractive to potential independent power producer (IPP) investors. These engagements will be initiated once the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) is published.

“The roll-out of the programme will continue to build on the strong foundations of the past nine years,” Coetzee insists, describing those foundations as being a predictable regulatory framework, as well as proving investors with the certainty of lawful and compliant procurement.

Through the IPPO’s flagship Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) 6 323 MW of mostly solar and wind capacity has been procured since 2011 across 92 separate projects, spurring about R200-billion in investment.

Coetzee’s immediate priority is to ensure that the IPPO is ready to implement any procurement programmes that will arise once the IRP is promulgated and the Ministerial determinations are published. With the energy sector being in crisis, the role of a capable and ready IPPO is important to attract urgently needed investment in generation capacity in South Africa.

Coetzee has deep knowledge and rich experience in infrastructure development in South Africa and across the continent. She also has senior management experience in government and the public sector having previously worked at the Department of Public Enterprises and South African Airways.

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