Financial services firm Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) has been announced as the headline sponsor for solar power and energy storage industry event Solar Power Africa, which will be held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from February 16 to 18.

Organised by events firm Messe Frankfurt in partnership with SAPVIA, Solar Power Africa is a three - day event and attendees will benefit from direct access to expert insights and solutions to a range of challenges, as well as key trends and developments in the renewable energy market. RMB prides itself on strategic sponsorships that reinforce their value proposition and allow them to move beyond the scope of banking to benefit the individuals and communities in which they operate. “RMB is committed to enabling the future of renewable energy. We have a deep understanding of the sector and have become a trusted partner, delivering innovative funding solutions for renewable energy projects across Africa,” says RMB infrastructure sector solutions head of power and renewables Daniel Zinman

Amukelani Mathebula Marketing Manager Tel. +27105996170 Amukelani.Mathebula www.messefrankfurt.com
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South Africa has the potential to take the lead in Africa’s transition to a green economy. The development of solar power projects will enable the country to meet its climate commitments as well as ensure security of supply for both domestic and commercial electricity users. “We are delighted to have the support of RMB for the forthcoming Solar Power Africa event. The roster of speakers and exhibitors is testament to the strength of the sector, which is only set to grow as investors seek to make more sustainable investments,” says Messe Frankfurt South Africa Group exhibitions director Joshua Low. “We are looking forward to supporting industry, financiers and government to capitalise on this dynamic sector.” Organised by Messe Frankfurt, and in partnership with the South African Photovoltaic Industry Association (SAPVIA), Solar Power Africa is a 3 - day event where attendees will benefit from direct access to expert insights and solutions to a range of challenges, as well as key trends and developments in the renewable energy market. 

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has reported significant interest from businesses in generating their own power, reports the Sunday Times.

This follows government’s announcement in June 2021 that the threshold for self-generation had increased to 100MW.

“There is a lot of interest expressed with the increase of the registration threshold to 100MW — we have received more than ten inquiries from the industry,” Nersa spokesperson Charles Hlebela told the Times.

However, Hlebela said that while interest is high, Nersa has received far fewer actual applications to register for self-generation.

Six plants capable of producing over 1MW are set to go online in 2022, with the largest expected to have a capacity of 10MW.

Energy minister Gwede Mantashe amended the Electricity Regulation Act on 12 August 2021 to allow private individuals and businesses to generate up to 100MW of electricity without a licence from Nersa.

This came after President Cyril Rampahosa promised that government would relax the regulations in his State of the Nation address a month before.

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Experts believe that lifting the self-generation threshold will enable businesses and communities hamstrung by load-shedding to reduce their dependency on Eskom’s grid.

It will also help Eskom sustain a stable electricity supply while conducting maintenance on its ageing coal-powered generating fleet.

At its interim financial results presentation on 15 December, Eskom announced that it would lease the land near its power stations through an auction to private investors for renewable electricity generation.

The initiative will kick off in Mpumalanga, and private power producers may use the land to generate electricity for their own consumption or for sale to third parties.

Eskom explained that Mpumalanga was selected as the starting point for the project as it has the most coal-fired plants with established transmission and distribution infrastructure.

Eskom’s Komati power station, which could be converted into a solar farm
Eskom has applied for an electricity price increase of around 20.5%, which is not welcome news for South Africans who are already unhappy with the price of this utility.

However, Nersa claims that the actual jump in tariffs could be around 32.15% based on external factors not included in Eskom’s calculations.

These include the following:

R14 billion for RCAs that had already been approved, but not realised, for the third multi-year price determination (MYPD3) period.
R3.5 billion from the 2019/2020 RCA and R742 million for the Short-Term Power Purchase Programme (STPPP).
A refund of R23 billion for an amount Nersa unlawfully deducted from Eskom as revenue was also factored into the regulator’s equation.

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Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele will join a delegation from Sasol, Infrastructure South Africa and the Northern Cape provincial government in Port Nolloth on January 17 for a stakeholder engagement aimed at starting a green hydrogen project in Boegoebaai.

The meeting and site visit will serve as an important interaction between government and Sasol in the implementation of the memorandum of agreement (MoA) signed and announced at the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium South Africa (Sidssa) of October 2021.

During Sidssa 2021, green hydrogen was identified as a “big frontier” that represents both future and current growth and investment opportunities for South Africa.

Through coordination by the Presidency, Sasol, the Northern Cape provincial government and the Gauteng provincial government launched three agreements at the Sidssa 2021, underpinning their green hydrogen ambitions.

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These include an MoA between the Northern Cape provincial government and Sasol, which sets out that Sasol will be the anchor developer of the planned Boegoebaai Green Hydrogen Special Economic Zone, pending a detailed feasibility study.

It also includes a heads of agreement between the Northern Cape provincial government and the Port of Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, to act as a demand aggregator for green hydrogen into Europe.

Lastly, an MoA was concluded between the Gauteng provincial government and Sasol, for Sasol to develop green hydrogen production facilities in Gauteng aimed at decarbonising domestic industry.

Globally, the demand for green hydrogen and green hydrogen-based products, such as ammonia and synthetic jet fuels, is rising.

This is off the back of national and corporate net-zero commitments aimed at keeping global warming below 2 oC above pre-industrial levels. Due to the multi-sectoral implications of producing green hydrogen, the Presidency plays a convening and coordinating role across government with respect to green hydrogen.
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The European Union’s Landmark Proposal to Label Natural Gas as ‘Green’ Energy is Good for Africa and our Energy Industry.

Africa’s call for a just and inclusive energy transition has been answered through the European Union’s landmark proposal to label natural gas as a ‘green’ energy source. Historically, Africa has always fought for sustainable development because we know, first-hand, the ravaging effects that even minute changes in climate can have on the continent and its populations. But to develop sustainably, Africa must first industrialize itself. It must have the same opportunities as Europe and other western countries. The point that natural gas serves as a transitional energy source is one that has been promoted by African nations for a long time and therefore, the African Energy Chamber (www.EnergyChamber.org) hails the EU’s proposal as a landmark development that justifies a positive outlook for an inclusive energy transition.

It has taken a crisis in energy availability to bring about policies that could increase Africa’s energy supply. The current pressure from The West to acclimatize to cleaner energy systems has so far been exclusive in recognizing that the transition may differ in form and timing from one region to another. By restricting investment into energy sources, such as gas, Africa has stood the chance of being left behind during the energy transition, which is counterproductive and regressive.

“We have had our disagreements with our European friends, however, there has always been constructive, behind-the-scenes dialogue with European policy makers. They listened, worked, and let us make the case for Africa’s low-carbon LNG and these discussions have been critical in getting us to see eye-to-eye on gas, a lot of work still needs to be done to make this a reality” stated NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber, who added, “The demonization of Africa’s gas industry needs to stop, and investments need to come into the sector. While we continue this engagement, it is important that the oil and gas industry focuses its investment on further reducing carbon emissions within the gas value chain. Sustainable development and making energy poverty history will require Africa to increase gas within its energy mix, which will give us a fighting chance to reduce the continent’s carbon footprint, even when we are still under 4% of global emissions.”

Africa faces unique challenges and must be allowed to time its own energy transition according to its own needs. The proposal to label natural gas as ‘green’ energy is what a just energy transition looks like, and now, we need to finance it. To capitalize on this, the African Green Energy Summit, to be held at African Energy Week this year, will clearly outline initiatives and positions ahead of this year’s COP27.
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​Now, at the dawn of a new year, Europe and Africa can collaborate and cooperate and stride in allegiance towards a brighter future. The two continents can set aside their differences and strive towards sustainable development together, paving the way for a new approach to Africa’s energy industry, one that serves the whole world and all its people as opposed to a privileged few. Should most EU members back the proposal, then it will become law from 2023, which the African Energy Chamber hopes will stand to help the U.S. recognize natural gas as a clean fuel, which it unfortunately does not under the Biden Administration’s current clean power plans.

This new proposal will pave the way for new European investments in natural gas in Africa and will therefore allow Europe to unlock billions of euros in finance and sustainable energy funds to support gas as a transitional energy source. The EU will want to import whatever natural gas Africa develops, which is constructive for project funding and will open doors to have candid discussions about furthering energy availability across the continent.

Some countries, like Senegal, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Nigeria, Angola, Ghana, Mauritania, Libya, Cameroon, Algeria, and Equatorial Guinea, have taken steps to monetize their natural resources to develop and industrialize independently. Thus, we need to give them time to realize the benefits of their strategic efforts and facilitate their own sovereignty when adhering to the energy transition. By using natural gas as a feedstock to create other value-added products, like petrochemicals, from fertilizers to ammonia, revenue can be used to build infrastructure, from pipelines to ports and roadways, and we can therefore open the doors to economic diversification for other African countries as well.

“Despite predictions that demand for African LNG is expected to grow for the foreseeable future, investments in gas exploration have been hit hard by a short-sighted bias against our low-carbon natural gas resources. This has led to a reluctance towards investing in supply projects because of the fractured global outlook towards natural gas,” continued Ayuk, concluding that, “African nations must be more pragmatic. If exploration and production companies must wait one or two years before their proposed projects are sanctioned, then the prospects for a sustainable African energy future will diminish rapidly. These practices, which help protect the interests of oil-producing nations, made sense when crude sold for $100 per barrel and before the energy transition took center stage, but they don’t make sense now.” Concluded Ayuk

While the African Energy Chamber hails the proposal as a win for Africa, it is not a time to regress to the continent’s old ways. Now is the time for African oil and gas producers to do everything in their power to encourage as much exploration and production activity as possible, particularly through International Oil Companies, National Oil Companies and African Independents. In the long term, African producers of oil and gas will continue to rely on the industry’s revenue to sustain economic growth and guarantee a just and inclusive energy transition, and should lobby for knowledge transfers, training, gas monetization programs, and other strategic opportunities so that their oil and gas operations can create pathways towards sustainable development and diversification.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.
SOURCE
African Energy Chamber

Very informative video

The production and export of green hydrogen is one means for countries to contribute to the global energy transition, with other elements being renewables, energy-efficient design principles and behavioural changes.

“There is significant potential for South Africa to create a whole new industry that can help stimulate its economy by building and growing a hydrogen export value chain.

"In addition to creating opportunities for skills development and work opportunities at hydrogen harvesting plants, it could lead to massive infrastructure development and improvement,” says consulting engineering company Royal HaskoningDHV senior energy consultant Philip König.

The goal of increasing the role of green hydrogen in energy consumption from less than 0.1% globally to 10% by 2050, according to the International Energy Agency, could enable a 6.4% reduction in total cumulative carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.

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​There are several opportunities that a green hydrogen ecosystem could offer South Africa. While there has been some discussion in South Africa about the use case for hydrogen in passenger vehicles, there is a stronger case for its potential six-million tons a year production to be split evenly between export markets, and for local use in high energy demand industries like ammonia and methanol production, refineries and steel and glass production, says management consulting company Boston Consulting Group principal Keshan Mudaly.

“There’s a value chain across the six so-called colours of hydrogen energy, including pressurisation, liquefaction, hydrogenation, ammonia and methanol synthesis and the Fischer-Tropsch process,” he explains.

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Solar power and battery energy storage systems are great options for your business’s future energy mix, says Absa.

Eskom’s ageing fleet of power stations has plagued the power utility and the country for years.

The sharp increase in the number of load-shedding days since 2018 (see figure 1) highlights the challenges that Eskom faces: a constrained power system with an old, unreliable and poorly maintained generation fleet as well as the need for new generation capacity.

As a result, the risk of load-shedding — and unplanned power outages — will remain until substantial new power capacity is invested in. 

These risks are compounded by the steep increases in electricity tariffs by Eskom and municipalities.

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​That is why a growing number of business owners are exploring the option of installing renewable energy technologies such as solar photovoltaic (PV) systems to power their daily operations.

Absa has also seen a growing trend of businesses looking at investing in battery energy storage systems (BESS) to complement such systems.

The decline in prices of the batteries required to run these systems, in this case lithium-ion, as well as their benefits in times of load-shedding, have made for a stronger business case.

As a power storage system, BESS are practical because they can be used in many different applications independent of location in contrast to, for example, pumped hydro storage.

The main uses for BESS are grouped into two categories. First, they can be used in stationary applications such as providing backup power when there is an outage. Second, they can be used in mobile applications such as in portable machinery, electric vehicles and cellphones. 

The type of BESS application needs to be aligned with the right BESS technology to maximise value for business owners.

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In recent years, colours have been used to refer to different sources of hydrogen production. “Black”, “grey” or “brown” refer to the production of hydrogen from coal, natural gas and lignite respectively. “Blue” is commonly used for the production of hydrogen from fossil fuels with CO2 emissions reduced by the use of Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS). “Green” is a term applied to production of hydrogen from renewable electricity.
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Why Green Hydrogen?
Hydrogen and energy have a long shared history – powering the first internal combustion engines over 200 years ago to becoming an integral part of the modern refining industry. It is light, storable, energy-dense, and produces no direct emissions of pollutants or greenhouse gases. But for hydrogen to make a significant contribution to clean energy transitions, it needs to be adopted in sectors where it is almost completely absent, such as transport, buildings and power generation
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​Impact
When compared to typical hydrocarbon value chains, the green hydrogen value chain is shorter, more predictable, and most importantly, has a significantly lower environmental impact and footprint.
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AI and Technology
We believe that Artificial Intelligence and the rapid advancement of hard green technology can solve the current challenges preventing the mass adoption of Green Hydrogen. Our solutions are adaptable and flexible, and can be applied in many use cases, across any project type and geography, and any development scenario for Green Hydrogen.

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As the demand for energy storage increases and there is more and more demand for Lithium Ion batteries to meet our energy storage requirements, we could be overlooking a possible solution to the high initial investments for batteries.
More countries and consumers are making the shift to electric vehicles globally in the hope of going greener they do face one problem, what do they do with all of the batteries being used by EV’s when their service degrades? EV batteries do have a tough life and are subjected to some pretty tough operating conditions, both physically and performance wise, and at some stage they do degrade to a point where they are no longer suited to this demanding role. They reach the end of their “1st Life”.

While these batteries are no longer suitable for EV’s, they are by no means useless and ready for the scrap heap (which is the last place that the environmentally conscious amongst us want them to end up), and may have up to 8 years of serviceable life left in them. These Lithium Iron batteries are in fact perfect for terrestrial based storage applications, such as solar storage, that require between 100 to 300 power cycles per year. This in essence grants these batteries a “2nd Life” with many more useful years of storage before they need to be recycled, and this provides the consumer with an energy storage solution that is between 30 – 50% cheaper than an equivalent new battery pack.

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Being a used item there are always some concerns around performance and warranties associated with the 2nd Life batteries, and many of these concerns are valid since there is currently no regulatory framework that governs the sale and usage of these items. However most distributors do offer their own warranties on the units that they supply, but it is always best to purchase through a company with a known distribution channel and a physical presence in the country in which you are installing, unless you do not mind the long wait for replacement parts.

In summary, 2nd Life batteries can provide an effective Energy Storage Solution (ESS) for your solar or backup energy storage solution with relatively low initial capital outlay when compared to purchasing new, and they add to your green credentials by preventing another battery from ending up in a landfill.

Power DOT Data provides 48v Revov battery packs in increments of 10.2kWh with our Energy Storage Solutions. These battery packs are supplied with a 3600 cycle warranty and are around 30% cheaper than a new competitor. When combined with the Victron product range this provides a fantastic energy storage solution for your home or office.

Source.......

In January of 2016 the Income Tax Act of South Africa was amended to allow for the faster depreciation of renewable energy implementations by companies wishing to install their own power plants. Previously the standard 50/30/20 rule, as applicable to most standard plant machinery, was applied to the installation of photovoltaic systems for the purpose of power generation. This amendment allows companies to be able to write off 100% of the installation of systems with less than 1MW (Mega Watt) of generation capacity within the first year of implementation, regardless of whether the solar plant has been producing for the full tax year, for larger solar implementations the standard rules apply.

The costs included under the provision are:

They physical hardware (Inverter, Solar Panels, etc.)
The labour costs involved
The costs for mounting and racking for the solar installation, including the supporting structures or foundations
The electrical integration into your existing electrical circuits
Should the installation be financed, the finance charges may not be claimed under section 12(b) as they are deductible under Section 11(bA).

The other provision to this act is that the system/asset has to be brought into use for the purpose of the taxpayer’s trade.

The section of the 2016 Income Tax Act dealing with this can be found below:

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“Machinery, plant, implements, utensils or articles or improvements thereto (the asset) used in farming or production of renewable energy An allowance will be granted for assets owned by a taxpayer or acquired by the taxpayer as purchaser in terms of an “installment credit agreement” as defined in the VAT Act, and brought into use for the first time by the taxpayer –

in the carrying on of farming operations except –
any motor vehicle of which the sole primary function is the conveyance of persons;
any caravan;
any aircraft (other than an aircraft used solely or mainly for crop spraying); or
any office furniture or equipment);
for the purpose of trade to be used for the production of bio-diesel or bio-ethanol; for the purpose of his trade to generate electricity from –
wind power;
photovoltaic solar energy of more than 1 megawatt; not exceeding 1 megawatt; or concentrated solar energy;
hydropower to produce electricity of not more than 30 megawatts; and
biomass comprising organic wastes, landfill gas or plant material.

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