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.
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​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.

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​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.
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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.
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​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.
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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.” ​
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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.

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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.
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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.

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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.
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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.”

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President Cyril Ramaphosa has outlined the additional electricity generation capacity that will come online in the coming years to help solve South Africa’s power crisis.

Speaking during his state of the nation address for 2022, the president acknowledged that the current power situation presented one of the greatest threats to economic and social progress.

“Load-shedding continues to have a huge impact on the lives of South Africans, disrupting businesses and putting a strain on our families,” Ramaphosa stated.

Echoing previous warnings from state-owned power utility Eskom, Ramaphosa said the country had a generation shortfall of around 4,000MW.

The president blamed this on ageing power stations, poor maintenance, and the ruinous effects of state capture.
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Ramaphosa commended Eskom for its intensive maintenance programme to reverse “many years of neglected maintenance and underperformance of existing plants”.

He also stated that his government had taken “firm steps” to bring additional generation online as quickly as possible to close the shortfall.

As a result, Ramaphosa said the following generation capacity would come online in the next few years:

500MW of remaining projects at an advanced stage from Bid Window 4 of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPP)
2,600MW from Bid Window 5 of the REIPPP for which preferred bidders have been announced
2,600MW from Bid Window 6 of the REIPPP which will soon be opened to bidders
800MW from the emergency risk mitigation programme that is ready to proceed
3,000MW of gas power, with requests for proposals later this year
500MW battery storage, with requests for proposals later this year
4,000MW embedded generation from mines
1,400MW of independent power secured by municipalities
In total, these projects should contribute a further 15,400MW of capacity.

Ramaphosa said that radical amendments made to Electricity Regulation Act were recently published for public comment.
“These far-reaching amendments will enable a competitive market for electricity generation and the establishment of an independent state-owned transmission company,” he stated.
Ramaphosa said Eskom’s separate transmission subsidiary was on track to complete unbundling by the end of 2022.

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Demand for FPV panels will be driven by the fact that FPV panels’ installation doesn’t require colossal land areas and the FPV projects are cost-efficient.

Market research company, Global Industry Analysts Inc. (GIA), has published a new market study on floating solar panels or floating photovoltaics (FPV), which are also known as floatovoltaics, which shows that the market is set to reach 4,8GW by 2026, from the current 1,6GW as of 2021.

The report titled “Floating Solar Panels – Global Market Trajectory & Analytics” shows that demand for FPV panels will also be driven by the fact that FPV panels’ installation doesn’t require colossal land areas and the FPV projects are cost-efficient.

FPVs float on water and an embedded solar tracker follows the sun’s movement and places the solar panel to increase the time of exposure to sunlight and enhance the complete efficiency of the FPV system. Moreover, floatovoltaics allow low maintenance and management costs and remove the requirement for costly land areas, which considerably decreases the cost of generating solar power and frees up the land.
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The water-based PV systems are beneficial in several aspects such as reduced algae growth and evaporation. Floatovoltaics additionally reduce PV’s operating temperature and costs of generating solar energy. As the water bodies are generally government-owned, it is easy to obtain permits for water bodies compared to land. Furthermore, FPVs provide shade assisting the algae to bloom and reducing water evaporation, and although power generation on individual sites is not equal to ground mounts, the FPVs are suitable for the cities having a limited roof or land space.

Markets with the most potential for floating solar
FPV panel projects are possible to set up on unused water bodies, which are anticipated to be the prime driving factor for the FPV panels’ market growth. Countries like India, China, Germany, the USA, and Japan emerged as solar powerhouses, and the growing solar energy-based electricity production, in turn, boosted the market growth of FPV panels. The US has over 24,000 water bodies that are man made which are anticipated to be useful in FPV development, as man-Made water bodies are easy to manage and have infrastructure and roads in place. 
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The City of Ekurhuleni will soon receive between 150 and 680 megawatts of additional power from renewable energy sources.
According to the municipality’s annual report for 2020/21, it awarded 46 tenders to independent power producers (IPPs) to generate additional renewable energy for the city.
“The City is finalising the implementation of the City programme to purchase electricity from the appointed power producers,” it said.
Ekurhuleni’s launched its project to decrease its reliance on Eskom in 2017, and as per a SABC News report, the municipality sent out a tender to IPPs in the same year.
Ekurhuleni released a statement in July 2020 explaining that renewable energy sources would be a cost-effective solution for the city, adding that solar power is the best-suited technology for its needs.
“Energy supply management is likely to be one of the most complex problems for the city for now and in the immediate future, particularly being the industrial hub of the country,” it said.
“The department has identified Solar PV as the best available technology to invest in, in terms of renewable energy to augment the current status of increasing energy demand,” said Makhosazana Mabaso, a member of the Mayoral Committee for Environment Resources Management.
The municipality said it had already installed solar panels on most city building rooftops, which had also been connected to the national grid to ease pressure on the existing energy supply.

“Meanwhile, the city is also increasing solar panel installations on individual households, which will decrease residential household consumption,” it added.
According to Ekurhuleni, a diversified energy supply will help reduce costs, the frequency of power cuts and theft, and the city’s infrastructure maintenance requirements.
Adding renewable energy to its power supply will also help Ekurhuleni reduce greenhouse gas emissions and push it further towards South Africa’s Climate Change Strategy goals.
The Climate Change Strategy was approved in August 2020 and aims to reduce South Africa’s annual greenhouse gas emissions to 398-440 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2030.
This would represent a reduction of around 28%.
“This Strategy defines the country’s vulnerabilities, plans to reduce those vulnerabilities and leverage opportunities, outlines the required resources for such action, whilst demonstrating progress on climate change adaptation,” South Africa’s Minister of Environment, Forestry, and Fisheries, Barbara Creecy, said.

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