Construction of South Africa’s largest renewable energy project to date – the Redstone concentrated solar power (CSP) plant – has commenced.

The R11.6 billion solar farm will be built roughly 30km east of Postmasburg in the Northern Cape and will have a generating output capacity of 100MW.

While this is less than the current largest solar power plant in South Africa – the De Aar project in the Northern Cape – it comes equipped with a 12-hour thermal storage system.

This makes it capable of persistently delivering electricity to almost 200,000 households, double the number powered by the De Aar plant.

The solar plant is expected to displace an estimated 440 metric tons of CO2 emissions per year.

The project is being led by California-based SolarReserve and Saudi developer, investor, and operator of power generation and water desalination plants ACWA Power, which secured financing from leading international and South African financial institutions.

Investors include the African Development Bank (AfDB), Absa Bank, Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), CDC Group, Nedbank Limited, Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG), Investec Bank and Sanlam Life Insurance.

ACWA Power Chief Portfolio Management Officer and Acting Chief Investment Officer Rajit Nanda said the company was proud to play a role in South Africa’s decarbonisation efforts and grateful for its partners’ contributions to deliver power at an affordable cost.

“Following in the footsteps of the record-breaking Bokpoort CSP and deploying the same thermal salt storage system, Redstone CSP is set to be yet another ACWA Power flagship project in South Africa that directly benefits households in the area with remarkable plant performance,” Nanda stated.

CSP plants use numerous mirrors which concentrate light energy from the sun and convert it into heat which can then be channeled through a typical generator to generate electricity.

Redstone is a power tower-based system with a central receiver to which the sun’s rays are directed via a network of mirrors surrounding it.

The receiver contains a fluid – typically molten salt – which is heated to immediately make steam for electricity generation or storage.

ACWA Power said that in addition to providing clean and reliable energy to the national grid, the Redstone CSP will deliver tangible socio-economic benefits.

The construction project will create more than 2,000 jobs at its peak, including about 400 from the local community. It will also result in approximately 100 permanent direct jobs during the operating period.

Furthermore, the project will reach close to 44% local content on procurement during construction.

Commercials operations at Redstone CSP are expected to commence in the fourth quarter of 2023, with  100% of design capacity expected to be reached within 365 days from that date.

Notably, it is expected to be the first renewable energy plant in the country to provide ancillary services at no cost to Eskom.

This would allow the power utility to tap into Redstone’s reserve resources when it requires additional capacity to serve electricity demand.

The image below shows a rendering of what the Redstone CSP will look like once constructed at its planned site in the Northern Cape.
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​Mineral Resources and Energy minister Gwede Mantashe says that his department is working with the Department of Public Works to integrate renewable energy sources into government buildings.

Responding in a written parliamentary Q&A, Mantashe said the plan aims to mainly use solar photovoltaic systems and energy efficiency technologies.

“Already, funding has been secured and (a) programme business plan developed with energy audits of more than 20 government buildings audited in the current financial year.

“The programme is envisaged to achieve 4,200 GWh savings through the installation of solar PV systems and integration with energy-efficient technologies in public schools, military facilities, and office government buildings.”

Mantsahe said that the programme is aligned with the recently promulgated regulations on mandatory display and submission of energy performance certificates for buildings.

Some of the projects which have already completed solar energy generation include:

Makhado Air Force Base in Limpopo (195 kWp);
Alfred Nzo District in the Eastern Cape, (85 kWp);
Harry Gwala District in KwaZulu Natal, (96 kWp);
ILembe District in KwaZulu Natal (103 kWp);
Blouberg Local  Municipality in Limpopo; (65 kWp);
Kheis Local Municipality in Northern Cape (45kWp).

New regulations

This week, Mantashe published new embedded generation regulations for public comment, in a move that is expected to help limit the impact of load shedding.

The gazette effectively raises the threshold for embedded generation from 1MW to 10MW, providing businesses and private individuals more room to build their own electricity supply away from Eskom’s grid.

However, the gazette includes the proviso that private groups who plan to use this embedded generation will have to register with National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA).

President Cyril Ramaphosa previously announced that government would look at increasing the embedded generation limit in his February 2021 state of the nation address.

“Recent analysis suggests that easing the licensing requirements for new embedded generation projects could unlock up to 5,000 MW of additional capacity and help to ease the impact of load shedding,” he said.

“We will therefore amend Schedule 2 of the Electricity Regulation Act, 2006 (Act 4 of 2006) within the next three months to increase the licensing threshold for embedded generation.

“This will include consultation among key stakeholders on the level at which the new threshold should be set and the finalisation of the necessary enabling frameworks.”

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Environmental design is becoming more and more relevant as we feel the effects of climate change on our planet.
​Artists, architects, and other designers are finding new ways to consider the impact of their work and to design less intrusively. Burning Man is a well-known community focused on art and self-expression, so it is no surprise that even here, environmental awareness is entering creative discussions. Mumbai architecture firm NUDES has designed Solar Mountain, one of 10 shortlisted proposals for LAGI 2020 Fly Ranch. Their design is a permanent installation on Burning Man’s 3,800-acre ranch that would produce 300 MWH of electricity annually.
The design features an array of solar panels fanning out from a central spine. The architects explain that this form was inspired by the natural landscape of Fly Ranch. NUDES believed that this dynamic curving form would fit in as another feature in the diverse landscape of wetlands, geysers, and hot and cold springs. The construction is planned with modular design elements of recycled wood and environmentally friendly materials. It is made up of four units, each with 182 solar panels of 300-watt capacity. With each unit’s daily generation potential, Solar Mountain would produce an estimated 318,645 kWh every year.

Solar Mountain is not just an interesting solar park to create renewable energy, though—it doubles as an interactive installation and community center for the participants of Burning Man. “The narrative behind the design is divided into three parts: grow energy, interact, and play,” explains Nuru Karim, founder and principal of NUDES.

As the solar panels fan out from the central spine, they create a semi-covered walkway for visitors that is enhanced by interesting light patterns cast by the strips of panels above.  Since the project was shortlisted and will move forward to another stage of design, we may soon learn of interesting building programs that could be included in the futuristic solar farm.

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LONDON, April 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Globeleq, a leading independent power generation company in Africa, and its consortium partner, Sturdee Energy Southern Africa, an independent power producer focused on renewable energy projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, confirm they have been awarded preferred bidder status for two 15 MWac solar projects in the first tranche of the Kingdom of Eswatini's procurement programme for new generation capacity. 

The Eswatini Energy Regulatory Authority (ESERA) officially released the intention to award notice on 14 April 2021 after evaluation of the bids submitted in November 2020.  The tender was originally launched in March 2020. 

Jonathan Hoffman, Globeleq's Chief Development Officer commented: "We are delighted to have the opportunity to support ESERA's strategy to increase domestic power generation and reduce reliance on imported power. As the first utility scale renewable IPPs in Eswatini, these projects will help stabilise the cost of electricity supply and increase the country's energy resilience, acting as a strong driver for growth and playing a part in the economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic."

The 15 MWac Balekane and 15 MWac Ngwenya projects will be located on separate parcels of private land in North Western Eswatini, in the Hhohho region, and connected to the existing Eswatini Electricity Company (EEC) transmission system. Connection works will be undertaken by the Globeleq-Sturdee consortium and once commissioned, the new transmission lines and associated substation equipment will be transferred to the EEC, which will be responsible for their operation and maintenance.

James White and Andrew Johnson, Sturdee Energy's Executive Directors, also highlighted that these projects will contribute important diversification to Sturdee's project portfolio and expand its presence in the SADC region. They are also extremely appreciative of the hard work by the Sturdee and Globeleq teams to deliver such strong bids whilst navigating the challenges of COVID-19.
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LONGi Solar, said to be the world’s largest solar photovoltaic (PV) technology company, is partnering with Durban-based solar PV panel manufacturer, ARTsolar, to meet the requirements of the South African Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) Risk Mitigation IPP Procurement (RMIPPP) programme, and beyond.

LONGi, a Tier 1 solar PV manufacturer listed on the Shanghai stock exchange, supplies more than 30 GW of high-efficiency solar wafers and PV panels worldwide annually, which comprises about a quarter of global market demand.
​ARTsolar was established in Durban in 2010 by entrepreneurs Eshu Seevnarayan and Patrick Goss, who remain shareholders of the 100% South African-owned company. Its current PV panel production line was designed for a capacity of 300 MW a year, although due to market conditions over the last five years, it has been operating significantly below this level.

On March 19, 2021, DMRE Minister Gwede Mantashe announced preferred bidders for the RMIPPP programme, which alone will require some 2.2-million solar PV panels with a total capacity of about 1 300 MW for delivery of power into the grid by the end of August 2022. To achieve this ambitious target, the projects must reach financial closure by the end of July 2021.

A further two procurement rounds of green energy from solar PV projects, each with a capacity of 1000 MW, are expected to commence in 2021, facilitated by the IPP Office of the DMRE for South Africa’s Renewable Energy IPP Procurement (REIPPP) programme in terms of the national Integrated Resource Plan for electricity, IRP 2019.

LONGi and ARTsolar have ambitions to be the major supplier of locally made solar PV panels for the RMIPPP and REIPPP programmes, and for subsequent procurements of solar power in South Africa and the region, for mainly utility-scale PV power plants.

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Cape Town - An application to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) for a licence to generate solar electricity at Old Mutual Park, which could take the site in Pinelands off the electricity grid, has caught both the Province and the City unawares.

A company called 35 Degrees Limited put out a notice notifying residents of Pinelands, Thornton and Maitland of its intention to set up a solar power generation facility at Old Mutual Park.

According to the notice: “All interested parties and/or any member of the public may lodge written objections with Nersa, within 14 days from the date of this publication. Such objections must be in a form of an affidavit and must be directed to Nersa.

“The licence application is available for inspection at Pinelands Public Library and interested parties have been asked to contact Wilhelm Cronje on telephone number 021 530 7160,” said the notice.

The plan is for Old Mutual Park on Jan Smuts Drive in Pinelands to leave the electricity grid and generate its own power via a 4.9 MW Solar photovoltaic (PV) generation plant. This move comes three years after Old Mutual went off the water grid with its its own water filtration plant in 2018.

Asked whether the City was aware of the application, Mayco member for energy and climate change Phindile Maxiti said: “No, as far as we know at this stage, this seems to be a plant for own generation and use by a private firm and does not directly pertain to the City of Cape Town.

“In general, the City welcomes all investment, big or small, into renewable energy as every bit helps to change our course to more affordable, cleaner, equitable and secure energy of supply and diversification of our energy mix away from the sole reliance on Eskom,” said Maxiti.

Finance and Economic Opportunities MEC David Maynier said: “We are aware of the investment in solar PV that Old Mutual has already made on their Old Mutual site. However, we were not aware of the application. However, we support it.”

Maynier said: “In our aim to become more energy-resilient in the Western Cape, we have been supporting businesses investing in solar PV since 2015.

“Enabling businesses to build their own energy resilience through the use of solar PV allows for greater cost efficiencies for the business and also contributes to growth of the green economy in the province,” he said.

The move by Old Mutual comes as the Stellenbosch Municipality announced it had launched a joint scientific investigation into alternate energy sources with Stellenbosch University and the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in a bid to eliminate load shedding.

Municipality spokesperson Stuart Grobbelaar said: “This puts Stellenbosch in the lead to potentially become the first municipality in the country to eliminate load shedding.”

Kigeni Energy director Gavin Goldblatt said: “Both Kigeni and Old Mutual are excited to be helping the City of Cape Town and the South African economy to resolve the ongoing power supply problems and price hikes through building the largest rooftop solar power generation plant in the Western Cape.”

“President Ramaphosa has specifically requested private involvement of this nature and promised expedited license approvals and we are confident that, as we have met all application requirements, Nersa will swiftly provide us with our license and the City will assist us with connecting to the grid,” said Goldblatt.    Source.......

​The development of the PV industry is a continuous pursuit of the lowest levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), especially at the critical moment of global energy transition, reducing cost and improving efficiency in relation to PV modules has
become an important way to reduce LCOE, which is usually achieved in two ways: continuous improvement in the cells’ conversion efficiency and module power output and constant decrease in the cost per watt of PV modules.
In recent years, PV power generation technology seems to be updated at a quicker pace, as evidenced by the faster-than-conventional speed in updating product technology. Especially since 2019, as driven by large-size silicon wafer technology, there have appeared various types of ultra-high-power modules, directly pushing up the most leading module power from 410W in 2019 to 445W in the first half of 2020 and further to 500W+ or even higher in the second half of 2020.
Read more in ​the Technical White Paper of JA Solar DeepBlue 3.0

​Load-shedding will remain a reality for South Africans for the foreseeable future. This has been confirmed by the CEO of Eskom, Andre De Ruyter, during his recent update on the state of the power utility’s generation system.

De Ruyter painted a bleak picture on the prospects of load-shedding over the next few years, as Eskom’s Energy Availability Factor (EAF) has seen a continued decline in the past few years due to its ageing coal power plants.

He highlighted that Eskom’s plant reliability maintenance programme means that load-shedding should be less frequent after September 2021, but stressed that the country would still suffer a power shortfall for the next five years.

Continued load-shedding and power outages mean many people are looking for backup power solutions for their homes and businesses.

Marketing Director of the One Energy Group, Teresa Settas said South Africans are also fed up with the rising electricity prices and mooted penalties for making alternative arrangements to get the power that Eskom cannot reliably or affordably supply.

Settas added that the parlous state of South Africa’s municipalities should also be of great concern, with outright collapsing of services and governance a daily occurrence.

“An alarming increase in cable theft and failing electrical infrastructure at municipal level are as harrowing as Eskom’s dire state of financial and technical affairs,” Settas said.

This, she claimed, compromised peoples’ productivity, safety, security, and quality of life.

Solar installation
Settas advised those looking for a backup power solution should take a long-term view to going off grid.

“Starting your journey this way is a crucial step towards greater grid-independence and lot more affordable than people realise,” Settas stated.

“With the advances in solar technology and pricing, you can hedge your electricity costs for the next 20-25 years and secure your supply at less than half the price that Eskom can supply it, by making savvy investment decisions today.”

She recommended that consumers start with a scalable, quality solar PV hybrid solution that takes care of their immediate needs for back-up power during load shedding and power failures.

“Initially your system is configured as a back-up UPS type solution to provide backup only during outages,” Settas said.

As your budget allows, you can expand this with solar panels to generate your own electricity, providing back-up power and saving you in electricity costs.

Setta said a good starting combination for backup power is a 4.6kW inverter paired with a 3.5kWh lithium-ion battery. This would cost around R71,000 with installation.

While initially configured as a UPS, it also comes with a charge controller that allow you to connect solar panels to operate as a hybrid solar system at a later stage.

Adding 4kW of solar panels will cost around R47,000 with installation that includes the required electrical protection.

After this, you could add another 3.5kWh battery for around R21,000 to increase your storage capacity.

This would mean you effectively have the ability to store 7kWh of energy, with a peak output capacity of 4.6kW at any given time.

Pylontech batteries
How long a battery back-up system will be able to power a home is dependent on two factors:

Size of the battery bank.
Amount of load from connected appliances.
To protect the battery’s lifespan, it is automatically disconnected when its battery is drained by 80%.

​Read more......

By Celine Paton, Senior Financial Analyst, at the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS),
National University of Singapore (NUS)
Before discussing the potential of floating solar to the African continent, the advantages this
technology can bring and its current level of maturity, it is important to first set the stage on a global
scale and understand since when we are speaking about “floating solar” as an additional solution to
land-based (including rooftop) solar PV systems.
Whilst the exact debut of floating solar worldwide remains debatable, the advancement and
deployment of the technology emerged in Asia, particularly in Japan and South Korea, from 2013
onwards. Although systems remained at first relatively small, commercial projects in the 1–3 MWp
range started emerging between 2013 and 2015, often built on irrigation reservoirs. Land scarcity,
which translated into high land acquisition costs and difficulty in obtaining land rights (or in converting
land earmarked for other purposes such as agriculture), pushed these two countries to find alternate
solutions to land-based solar PV projects, which benefited at the time from preferential feed-in tariffs
(FiTs).
After a few years, China rapidly came into the picture with significantly larger (around 8 MWp) floating
solar PV (FPV) systems, which started operating in 2015. Meanwhile pilots and small-scale projects
also emerged in Europe and elsewhere with various entrepreneurial companies launching innovative
designs, competing for higher energy output, easier maintenance, and costs reduction while keeping
quality, transportability and modularity as high as possible. In 2016, a 20 MWp floating solar plant was
built in China, the first large-scale project of many more to come, built on a coal mining subsidence
area, and tendered by the government under the Top Runner programme. Built on flooded coal mines,
these projects allowed reviving depleted areas and retraining/upskilling local communities, which
were previously largely dependent upon the coal mining industry. Other landmark floating solar
projects in 2016 were the 6.3 MWp Queen Elizabeth II and 2.9 MWp Godley systems, built on water
treatment reservoirs in the United Kingdom. From 2017 onwards, projects became larger, to even
reaching the record level of 150 MWp in China (also built on coal mining subsidence areas in the Anhui
and Shandong provinces), the two world’s largest floating solar projects completed to date. 

As shown in Figure 1 below, the last three years witnessed the global floating solar installed capacity
gaining significant momentum, mainly due to the advent of large projects in China. Whilst China still
holds the record in terms of project size, other countries are following suit and planning to build
sizeable floating solar projects, some even in the multiple hundreds of MW-scale, also making them
better candidate for non-recourse project financing. Just to name a few, South Korea is planning more
than 2 GWp of floating solar projects (to be built in various phases) at the Saemangeum Seawall dyke
on the coast of the Yellow Sea. 

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The South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) has called for the immediate release of available wind power into the national grid, as the country continues to face daily load-shedding.

After days of implementing Stage 1 to Stage 4 power cuts, State-owned Eskom on Monday evening implemented unprecedented Stage 6 power cuts after the heavy rainfall in some areas of the country exacerbated the already constrained power supply situation.

Eskom explained in a statement that the Stage 6 load-shedding was declared as a result of failed units at the Medupi power station, flooding at the Kriel mine and flooding at the Camden power station.

The power utility late on Monday scaled back to Stage 4 load-shedding and, on Tuesday, said that at 05:43 breakdowns were at 15 200 MW. It was working to reduce unplanned breakdowns to below 9 500 MW and to stop load-shedding by next week.

It pointed out that the probability for load-shedding remained high for the remainder of this week.

The power cuts have resulted in a number of mining companies, including diamond miner Petra Diamonds and gold miner Harmony Gold, halting operations following requests by Eskom and over safety concerns for mine employees working underground.

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday acknowledged the “devastating” impact of load-shedding on the economy. Economists have warned that the latest round of load-shedding may push South Africa into a recession.

In light of the ongoing electricity supply constraints, which is unlikely to be resolved soon, the South African Photovoltaic Industry Association on Monday called for government to enable a greater contribution from small-scale embedded generation.

Read more.......