Browsing: Eskom

Heineken’s Sedibeng solar plant boasts 14 000 panels with an energy capacity of over 6.5MW providing 30 per cent of the brewery’s electricity demand. www.theexchange.africa

Heineken South Africa launches solar plant to reduce its carbon footprint

Industry and Trade

Heineken notes that this embedded grid-connected solar project incorporates single axis tracking technology that enables the panels to move with the rise and setting of the sun.

Single-axis tracking systems tilt on one axis, tracking the sun as it moves from east to west during the day.

A solar tracking system adjusts the position of a solar panel along an axis. This is done to ensure a small angle of incidence or the angle that sunlight hits a solar panel.

Shift from dirty coal leaves South Africa with crippling power cuts

Industry and Trade

Switching from coal to renewable energy is vital for South Africa to stabilize its power output and to create employment. The switch from coal to renewable energy is costly and many African nations are dragging their feet.

The situation is further exasperated by the fact that of recent years, many African nations have been discovering oil and many more are conducting explorations offshore. The potential of changing their economies from the sale of crude oil is far too promising to forgo.

This is a point that will be driven home at the upcoming COP27 in Egypt later this year. Africa will be looking to push the West to provide funding for the renewable energy transition. This time around, the South Africa deal stands as a concrete example that with sufficient funding, the transition is not only doable but plausible and strung with multifaceted benefits including employment.

A man drives cattle past electricity pylons during frequent power outages from South African utility Eskom, caused by its aging coal-fired plants, in Soweto, South Africa. www.theexchange.africa

Power outages could hit ATMs, filling stations in South Africa, Zimbabwe

Countries

Zimbabwe has been experiencing intermittent power generation shortfalls due to an ageing plant at its Kariba hydropower station and the main coal-driven power generators at Hwange.

According to Crisis 24, Zimbabwe will likely remain susceptible to rounds of load shedding through 2022 and possibly beyond if additional power production capacity is not made available. In mid-June, a circular from Meikles Hotel in Zimbabwe said that they have been operating on generator power for about a week and were now offering guests buckets of hot water to bath with. This is also one of the effects of the increased power cuts evident, although it is a few months apart.

Crisis 24 added that temporary commercial and communications disruptions are possible while load shedding and unscheduled disruptions are taking place; cellular and mobile services could be affected. Traffic disruptions and longer driving times are possible during these periods due to malfunctioning traffic signals. Power outages could also result in the temporary unavailability of essential services such as ATMs and filling stations.