Norwegian energy group Statkraft has unveiled a virtual power plant in the UK which connects wind, solar and gas engines with battery storage and can respond to market demands in seconds.

“The idea is to match renewable power production with market demand within seconds,” said Duncan Dale of Statkraft in the UK. “The increasing share of renewable energy in the UK will require a maximum of flexibility in the British power grid. By integrating batteries and engines into the virtual power plant and optimising their operations we can provide this flexibility reliably.”

The virtual power plant monitors the operations of more than 1000 MW of wind, solar, battery storage and gas engines. It compares it with constantly-updating Day Ahead, On-the-Day and Cash Out (indicative electricity imbalance) price forecasts, allowing what Dale calls “real time optimisation of power trading in the British energy market”.

And Statkraft is planning to double the capacity of the virtual power plant by the summer. Dale said that making best use of flexibility will facilitate the integration of intermittent power generation into the electricity system and by that the expansion of renewable energy in the UK.

Software from German firm Energy & Meteo Systems will connect, coordinate and monitor the decentralised sites, storage facilities and controllable loads, via a common intelligent control centre.

In doing so, it can act within various energy markets as would a conventional power plant. Dr Ulrich Focken, founder of Director of Energy & Meteo, said that combining these functionalities with optimised power forecasting means that “fluctuating, decentralised power sources can be reliably integrated into the energy grid and profitably marketed at an energy exchange”.

In Germany, Statkraft already interconnects more than 1400 wind and solar installations in what is Europe’s largest virtual power plant, with an installed capacity of around 12,000 MW. 

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Wind turbine tower sections for the 140MW Kangnas Wind Farm, one of the Renewable Energy Industry Power Producer Procurement Programmes (REI4Ps) giant Bid Window 4 projects, are being manufactured locally, on Cape Town’s West Coast, in Atlantis.  This signals the recovery of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for Green Technologies, which according to Green Cape, has already attracted R680 million in green technology investments and has created over 300 jobs. It is expected that the zone will attract a further R3.7 billion of investment by renewable energy and other manufacturers, and nearly 3,000 jobs are expected to be created by 2030 if these investments are realised.
Manufacturing industries, in particular, stand to benefit from wind farms that are currently being constructed around the country.  Two of these large power generating plants, will be receiving their turbine tower sections from GRI, a Spanish wind tower manufacturer, which has invested R475 million to date, and was one of the first to see the benefits of locating in the Atlantis SEZ.  Even prior to designation of the SEZ, GRI had made the most of the City of Cape Town's available infrastructure and rapid land release and approvals process to land them on their chosen ground. 
GRI weathered the storm of the REI4P delays and were able to ramp up to full operations again after confirming contracts in BW4, which include Kangnas Wind Farm and Perdekraal East Wind Farm.  

“GRI's South African wind tower company is 25% owned by local Black shareholders, whilst their 250 or so employees have benefited from skills transfer, some seeing training and experience in Spain and USA, and bringing their skills back to the community,” explained Francis Jackson, SEZ Project Executive, GreenCape. 
The Atlantis Green Technology SEZ was a deliberate effort to create manufacturing, broadly in the green economy, and with specific opportunities in renewables. “Kangnas Wind Farm is the first REI4P power producer to receive towers manufactured by GRI, following the industry’s two year impasse, with the manufacturer’s full capacity dedicated to these projects,” explain Manie Kotze, Construction Project Manager for Kangnas Wind Farm.
Kangnas Wind Farm is situated in the Nama Khoi Municipal area, in the Northern Cape.  This Province is the recipient of the majority of IPP’s from the latest bid window, green lighted almost a year ago.

South Africa is ranked 11th among the top 20 countries mismanaging waste. This was revealed during a meeting of Parliament’s portfolio committee on Environmental Affairs on Wednesday, where the possible banning of single-use plastic products was discussed.

The stats come from a 2015 study conducted by Georgia University in the US.

The study finds on average, every South African accumulates about 2 kilograms of waste per day.

The Environmental Affairs Department’s deputy director for chemical waste, Mark Gordon, says it also shows that 12% of general waste is plastic.

He’s told MP’s that South Africa recycles almost 330,000 tonnes of plastic every year.

“South Africa has 56% of mismanaged waste. The study shows across the world of oceans polluted, about 50% of that plastic comes from within 50km of the coastline.”

Other African countries on the list include Nigeria and Egypt.

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Attractive costs for solar and wind power and cutting-edge innovations are making clean energy a compelling proposition in Sub-Saharan Africa, which faces the world’s largest gaps in electricity access. But solar and wind power are variable by nature, making it essential to find effective ways to store the electricity they produce to use when it is needed most.

Energy storage – batteries in particular – can help solve that problem.

Today, battery technology is costly and not widely deployed in large-scale energy projects. The gap is particularly acute in Sub-Saharan Africa, where nearly 600 million people still live without access to reliable and affordable electricity, despite the region’s significant wind and solar power potential and burgeoning energy demand.

Catalyzing new markets will be key to drive down costs for batteries and make it a viable energy storage solution in Africa.

A recent partner- and investor-focused conference sought to do just that.

The “Batteries, Energy Storage & the Renewable Future” event in Cape Town on Feb. 24 and 25 was attended by more than 200 participants from companies including Tesla, General Electric, Fluence, Siemens, the Southern Africa Power Pool, and national research labs and utilities from many countries.

South Africa’s Minister for Energy, Mr. Jeff Radebe, delivered opening remarks, and underscored the country’s commitment to the application of battery storage in its energy systems.

The event focused on the potential for batteries and other forms of energy storage to complement renewable energy by supporting off-grid and mini grids, which supply electricity to millions of people living in remote communities or areas that are not supported by traditional infrastructure.

It also demonstrated the tremendous demand that exists in the region today for energy solutions that do not just boost the uptake of clean energy, but also help stabilize and strengthen existing electricity grids and aid the global push to adopt more clean energy and fight against climate change.

Global demand for battery storage is expected to reach 2,300 GWh by 2030, while power systems around the world will need nearly ten times more — 22,000 GWh — of storage capacity by 2050 to integrate more wind and solar energy into the electricity grid.

The World Bank is already taking steps to address this growing need.
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​A new, first-of-its-kind $1 billion World Bank Group (WBG) program aims to help fast-track investments in battery storage by raising $4 billion more in public and private funds and convening a global think tank with the ultimate goal of financing 17.5 GWh of battery storage by 2025 – more than triple the 4-5 GWh currently installed in all developing countries.

“Last year, almost twice as many energy storage projects were announced globally – and the same is expected this year. The market is still small, but exponential growth has begun,” said Michael Solomon, the Chief Executive Officer of Clean Horizon.

To that end, the World Bank, in partnership with the Climate Technology Fund (CTF) and the African Development Bank, will support a large-scale distributed battery storage program in South Africa.

The WBG is also developing solar parks with 150 MW of PV and some 200 MWh battery storage each in Mali and Burkina Faso – the largest in the region. Other projects include a combined solar and battery storage project in Haiti, an emergency solar and battery storage power plant in the Gambia and mini-grids in island states to improve resilience.

In recent years, the WBG has also been working with other countries to support the deployment of batteries with solar and wind power, with projects currently under preparation in Africa, South Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean and the Pacific.

The World Bank event, “Batteries, Energy Storage & the Renewable Future,” was held in Cape Town, South Africa on Feb. 25-26, 2019 with the support of the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) and the Middle East and North Africa Knowledge and Innovation Program (MENA KIP).

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African renewable energy company, New Southern Energy, has installed a state of the art microgrid solution at Marlenique Farm, owned by the Van der Merwe Family of the renowned Boplaas in Ceres. The farm is located just outside Franschoek. The farm produces export quality fruit and runs an award-winning wedding and function venue.
New Southern Energy Installs First Commercial Floating Solar Farm in Africa 

The floating solar system is the first commercially operational system to be installed in Africa and, at 60 kWp, it is by far the largest.

The solution includes, an internal AC reticulation upgrade and consolidation of connection points, installation of a backup generator to run the internal grid in the event of power outages, a 534 kWp ground mounted solar system, a 60 kWp floating solar system and provision for infrastructure to allow for battery system to be included during phase two to take the site completely off-grid.

French floating solar developers, Ciel & Terre, participated in the project. Of their contribution to the state-of-the-art system, Jack Setton, Ciel & Terre’s EMEA Business Developer, said, “We’re delighted to have delivered South Africa’s first commercial floating PV installation, in collaboration with Floating Solar PTY and New Southern Energy. Irrigation reservoirs like this one are perfect for solar projects, and we see great opportunities on the Western Cape’s countless dams, particularly for clients such as wineries or fruit growers.”

Floating Solar (Pty) Ltd, the distributors for the Ciel & Terre floating solar system in South Africa, was established in 2017 as a Floating Solar PV equipment provider and project developer.

On the completion of the system, their representative Peter Varndell said, “Congratulations to New Southern Energy for completing this first commercial scale Floating Solar plant in Africa. There is significant potential to replicate this technology in the African market where it can be used to provide clean energy for mining, industrial, agricultural, water treatment works, hydropower and reservoir sites.”

The project was financed through Nedbank Agriculture with the savings from the system allowing the farm to operate cash-flow positive from day one, while paying the asset off over 10 years. With a long-lasting life-space the benefits of the system will be passed on for generations to come.

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Diesel fumes and the growl of a hardworking engine are usually part of the stop-start process of tracking animals on the twice-daily game drives that are central to any high-end safari experience in Africa. It’s not unusual to spend six to eight hours a day in an open 4×4 vehicle traversing rough terrain. Now, the entrepreneurial owner of Cheetah Plains, a new turbo-luxe lodge in South Africa, has introduced a game-changing electric vehicle designed to enhance the experience while being kind to the environment.

Zero emissions were the initial incentive behind the design of the new safari trucks, which cost about $100,000 each. (That’s double the price of a regular safari vehicle.) But the byproduct of the environmentally friendly fleet of Toyota Land Cruisers— which are fitted with the latest Tesla battery technology and, fully charged, can drive for hours over any terrain—is a nearly silent safari, meaning closer encounters to lions, leopards, giraffes, elephants, and the rest of the native wildlife in the 45,000-acre Sabi Sands Game Reserve. For wildlife photographers, in particular, the real advantage is the low hum of the engine and the unobtrusiveness of gliding quietly through the bush.

Cheetah Plains is the latest property to launch in the Sabi Sand, a private game reserve made up of mainly family-owned concessions. At around $8,500 per acre, the Sabi Sand is the most expensive land under conservation in South Africa. Along with all of its native predators, sightings of its famous leopards are the reason why safari-goers pay top dollar to vacation at its swanky lodges.

In line with its boundary-pushing approach to game viewing, Cheetah Plains offers just three private villas, each designed with cutting-edge sustainability credentials by Cape Town–based architect Stefan Antoni, who is better known for designing futuristic luxury hotels in places like Thailand and the Seychelles than safari lodges in Africa. The houses have the latest in gray-water recycling systems and, by April, will operate 100 percent on solar power.

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CAPE TOWN — The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word ‘crisis’. One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity – which can be elegantly applied to Eskom’s dysfunction right now. In yet another injection of life-giving hope to the endangered and corruption-traumatised national psyche, the Development Bank of Southern Africa, is investing big-time in renewable energy projects, the aim being to have imbedded “green” energy contributing 11.5% of total renewable energy capacity by 2030. The DBSA $200m shot-in-the-arm to the Embedded Generation Investment Program, involves helping 10 proof of concept projects more easily attract commercial financing. We’ve seen how powerful a force for societal good and course-correction banks in South Africa can be (if only to protect themselves), first by closing down the Gupta’s accounts and then the Watsons. Some of the big banks are refusing to finance coal-fired power plants, helping bring South Africa kicking and screaming into globally-accepted diversified sources of generation. Increasingly it seems, the nightmare is ending, even if we had to first wake up and smell the dimly-lit open cesspit. – Chris Bateman

By Roxanne Henderson

(Bloomberg) – South Africa’s state-owned Development Bank of Southern Africa is funding a program intended to give renewable energy projects in the electricity-starved country a boost by making them more appealing to commercial banks.

The financier will funnel $200m into the Embedded Generation Investment Program to kick start developments that will add 330 megawatts of new generating capacity to the national grid and reduce carbon emissions. Half of the funding will be provided by the Green Climate Fund, the Johannesburg-based financier said in an emailed statement.

While the DBSA’s investments will get initiatives off the ground, the goal is to create projects that commercial lenders will want to fund to completion, said Mohale Rakgate, the group executive responsible for project preparation. The projects will need to attract at least $104m more from local banks in their initial phases, he said.

“We have a pipeline of more than 10 projects,” Rakgate said. “We want to take the first steps, prove the concepts work” and get commercial financing, he said, adding that “attracting private funding is really at the core of what we are doing.”

​Global trend
South Africa aims to have embedded generation contribute 2,600 megawatts to the country’s renewable energy capacity, representing an 11.5% slice, by 2030 and is rekindling enthusiasm for green alternatives to keep the nation’s lights on. The country’s debt-laden utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. has been forced to cut power in recent weeks as it cannot afford to maintain its coal-fired plants.

“This is in line with a global trend that has been happening in the US and Europe. South Africa is just catching up on the renewable trend of how power is now generated by diversifying sources of generation,” Rakgate said.

Nedbank Group Ltd. is already shunning coal-fired projects, with the Johannesburg-based lender saying last month it will no longer provide project financing or other forms of asset-specific financing where the proceeds will be used to develop plants using the fuel, regardless of the country or technology.

The DBSA will launch the program after the country’s revised Integrated Resource Plan is approved by the government and will also allocate some of the funding to black empowerment schemes, it said.

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With South Africa’s state electricity utility in dire financial straits and straining to meet demand, the government has reverted to courting independent renewable energy producers to help power the continent’s most industrialized economy.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, his Energy Minister Jeff Radebe and the Treasury have all recently heralded solar and wind-powered plants as the answer to meeting South Africa’s future electricity demands, citing falling costs and environmental considerations. The government also needs private investors to help fund new infrastructure: Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., which generates about 95 percent of the nation’s power, can’t afford to maintain its aging coal-fired plants, never mind build new ones, and the Treasury has no cash to spare.

Renewable energy companies have reason to be skeptical. South Africa initiated one of the world’s most successful renewable-power programs starting in 2011, which garnered more than 200 billion rand ($14.4 billion) in investment from 112 producers. But projects were stalled for almost three years during ex-President Jacob Zuma’s rule as he and Eskom officials pushed to build nuclear plants, a deal that was tainted by corruption allegations and was shelved when Zuma was forced to step down a year ago.
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​“They’re putting things right,’’ said Mike Rossouw, an independent energy adviser. “The renewables outlook is getting better and better.’’
Read more on how the Zuma administration derailed renewable energy.
Eskom’s operational and financial woes stem from years of mismanagement and massive cost overruns on two new coal-fired power stations that should have been finished in 2015 but are running years behind schedule. The government now plans to split the utility, which produces three-quarters of its power from coal, into generation, transmission and distribution units in a bid to get it back on track. The move should make it easier for the renewable energy plants to supply the national grid.
That’s imperative because financiers are becoming increasingly reluctant to fund coal-fired projects, amid a global move toward more environmentally friendly forms of energy, according to Radebe. The shift will be aided by improvements to batteries and other technological advances, he said.

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​The city of Cape Town said on Tuesday it was asking the North Gauteng high court to treat a pending court matter between itself, the energy minister and the National Energy Regulator of South Africa regarding electricity procurement as urgent.

Cape Town wants itself and other municipalities across South Africa to purchase cleaner energy directly from independent power producers (IPPs).

The city said in a statement it was doing everything possible to move away from sole reliance on state-owned power utility Eskom for its  energy needs while at the same time becoming more resilient and sustainable through the use of renewable energy and transitional fuels such as natural gas.

"It is vital that we future-proof our city to ensure that security of supply, and cleaner supply at that, is enhanced," it said.

"As a responsible local government that is increasingly becoming internationally recognised for our climate change programmes, we must move toward more sustainable, greener energy resources to meet our carbon-neutral commitments."

The city said it sought a determination in accordance with new generation capacity regulations in the Electricity Generation Act to allow it to procure up to 400 MW of renewable energy from IPPs.

The price of power generated from IPPs would differ based on technology and the procurement process to be followed if the court case was successful. 
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​​"If we are allowed to procure renewable energy, we can reduce the long-term electricity costs for our residents and provide cleaner power," it said.

"Currently, some 65 percent of the tariff that we charge customers for electricity goes toward the cost to buy electricity from Eskom."

It encouraged other metros to join it and actively participate in "constructive responses" to mitigate the impact of electricity supply shortage especially on the commercial sector.

Eskom was forced to implement rolling blackouts for several days earlier this month to avoid a collapse of the national grid after some of its generating units broke down.

"Metros must become the energy champions of their residents and of their commercial sector players," the city of Cape Town said.

"It will be vital for the national government to open up the electricity generation environment if cities are to be able to reduce carbon emissions and if security of power supply is to be achieved." 

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Energy Minister Jeff Radebe says government has no intention of renegotiating the power purchase agreements (PPAs) for renewable-energy projects procured in 2011 and 2012, but has left the door open for a “refinancing” of the projects in the interest of lowering the cost of the plants to the consumer.

The prospect of renegotiating the contracts had been raised by Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan during a recent Parliamentary Portfolio Committee meeting in Cape Town.

Gordhan was quoted as saying that a renegotiation of the PPAs associated with the first two bid windows of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) would “alleviate pressure on Eskom and the electricity tariff”.

However, Radebe said that, while the tariffs bid during the first rounds were indeed high; there had been a steady decline in subsequent auctions. In addition, the PPA contracts had been signed after a "very fair, very competitive and very transparent" process.
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​Government would be open, though, to approaches from the IPPs themselves should they have refinancing proposals that could result in a lowering of the costs. "We will cross that bridge when we get to it," the Minister said.

One proposal is to allow for a possible ten-year PPA term extension, which would create additional value for the IPPs that could be paid for by lowering the current tariff.

Briefing the media in Pretoria on Sunday amid attacks on the IPP programme, which has been singled out by some stakeholders as posing a major financial risk to Eskom, Radebe mounted a robust defence of the REIPPPP. He noted that the programme had not only attracted R209-billion in investment over the past eight years, but had also been lauded internationally.

"While I acknowledge the programme is not perfect and can be improved in specific areas, why do we not embrace a programme that has done so much for the country and has received international acknowledgement?"

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