E-Newsletter for the Power & Energy Sectors of Southern Africa
Issue 87, May 2015
Does Eskom have a good story to tell us yet? by Roger Lilley, EE Publishers
On 4 May 2015 Eskom's acting chief executive, Brian Molefe, reportedly said that Eskom had interrupted supply for "only" four-and-a-half hours over a seven-day period. Perhaps after all the apologies the power utility has had to...
(more)
Handbook: Guidelines for the safe use of standby / portable generators on utilities' networks Forward by Sicelo Xulu, City Power CEO and AMEU President
In the past few months, many South Africans had to make peace with the fact that the country does not have enough generating capacity to meet the growing demand for energy. We hope that you will find the updated handbook useful and constructive to your standby /portable generation application for businesses and also at the household level...
(download the handbook)
Domestic electricity prices:
Eskom vs. City Power
by Chris Yelland, investigative editor, EE Publishers
The City Power 60 A prepaid tariff offers the best pricing by far over the full range of electricity consumption up to 4000 kWh per month... (more)
The road ahead: gaining momentum from energy transformation
by Dr. Norbert Schwieters, PWC
Energy transformation is being driven by five global megatrends interacting with and amplified by a set of shifts taking place within the power sector. These five megatrends - technological breakthroughs; climate change and... (more)
Predicting the future of anything is a mug's game. Whatever the prediction, it is almost certainly going to be wrong. The probabilist, Nicholas Taleb, rails against those involved in making predictions about the future... (more)
The impact of rooftop PV on distribution networks
by Dr. Clinton Carter-Brown, Aurecon
South Africa has an excellent solar resource. Many experts agree that the wide spread proliferation of rooftop solar PV installations will take place, and is just a matter of time given the opportunities that this technology...
(more)
by Chris Yelland, investigative editor, EE Publishers
Domestic electricity users often ask for details of Eskom's electricity pricing and the options of prepayment vs. credit metering. The summary in this article prepared by EE Publishers provides the details in a digestible form... (more)
Power ships: a real solution to South Africa's short-term energy needs by Roger Lilley, EE Publishers
A set of cost-effective privately owned and operated floating power stations, moored at a number of South African harbours, would provide much needed electricity to the country and would remove the need for most of the loadshedding currently being... (more)
Run-of-river hydropower systems by Mike Rycroft, features editor, EE Publishers
The current focus on distributed medium sized renewable energy systems has led to a closer look at small to medium sized hydropower systems as a possible component of a future energy mix. Run-of-river (ROR) systems offer a promising solution... (more)
Pre-manufactured substations: E-house or containerised by Bevan Richards, Shaw Controls
Pre-manufactured electrical substations have evolved over the past two decades to such an extent that they can almost be deemed a standard product line. What was at one stage deemed a very complex task has now become a common practice by... (more)
Meter tampering has been a problem for as long as metering has been a solution. The day after the utilities installed the first meters, the first unscrupulous customers almost certainly started looking for ways to trick them to reduce their bills. Utilities and... (
more)
Johannesburg's City Power has launched a load limiting scheme in an attempt to limit the effects of load shedding on consumers. The pilot scheme, sited in the Aspen nature estate, involves some 85 households and makes use of the facilities of the smart... (
more)
The environmental impact of converting AC lines to AC-DC lines
Information from Cigr?
The conversion of AC circuits of existing overhead lines to DC circuits is of major interest to minimise the overall environmental impact of the transmission system and to facilitate the acquisition of new right-of-ways for new line corridors. Theoretical and... (more)
Solar power development was predominantly concentrated in the North African region, largely due to its export potential, but recent developments in the south, east and west of the continent has resulted in solar energy being included more and more in... (
more)
The value of combining CSP with wind power
by Jason Deign, Jason Deign Associates
An increasing appreciation of the potential for combining CSP with PV is leading to the question: what about wind? Wind power and CSP rarely get considered together. A close scrutiny of the cost of storing wind power reveals that there could be a case for... (more)
Generator repair keeps the lights on
by Mike Stanley, Sulzer
The power station in Darwin, Australia, started life as a 200 MW gas fired installation with three gas turbine generators that started full production in 1987. Having provided the local population with electricity for 25 years, it was important to ensure the... (
more)
The concept of a self sustaining or self powering commercial or residential building has become the holy grail of the green building sector, and there are an increasing number of buildings claiming zero net-energy usage worldwide. Many countries have set... (
more)
