13 July, 2022 13:17

The Conversation – 1h ago

• Xiemp
• Energyxie

South AfricaÔÇÖs power utility, Eskom, has not been able to provide a steady electricity supply for several years now. At the start of the 2022 winter the utility warned the public to expect up to 100 days with rolling power outages. At the end of June there was at times a 6 000 MW shortfall in electricity supply, which corresponds to about 20% of the evening peak demand.

HereÔÇÖs what South Africa needs to produce a lot more renewable energy

While there is consensus that new electricity generating plants are urgently needed to minimise power outages, there are radically differing views on how this is best achieved. The official electricity plan approved three years ago is already out of date. Its implementation is furthermore two years behind schedule.

One widely promoted view is that increasing electricity generating capacity requires grand scale new renewable energy developments. In 2020 the electricity generated from renewables amounted to a mere 10.5% of the South African national total. This will have grown to about 11.5% as more plants have been completed.

The countryÔÇÖs power generation is still dominated by coal. And itÔÇÖs lagging far behind the global trend towards clean energy.

Most people associate renewable energy exclusively with wind and solar energy, but it includes all technologies that donÔÇÖt process non-replaceable fossil fuels. Fossils include coal, oil, gas and minerals (for example the uranium used in nuclear energy).

Hydropower stations, which extract electricity from the downhill flow of water, are a renewable energy source. This is the major source of electricity in water rich countries like Norway, but only a limited option in drier climates. When water needs to be retained in dams during times of drought then no electricity production is possible.

As South Africa is drought-prone, a major increase in local hydropower generation (currently at 3% of the total) is not feasible.

Other renewable energy technologies like geothermal and tidal power generation work in select localities that are not common in South Africa.

This leaves wind and solar. These sources currently make up about 8% of South AfricaÔÇÖs energy mix.

Wind and solar power

Wind and solar power are very attractive because:

• South Africa has some of the best solar and wind resources in the world. Solar and wind plants already produce electricity very effectively in many cloudier and less windy environments than South Africa.
• Solar and wind plants can be built in less than two years. But the pre-construction processes ÔÇô bidding, approvals and such ÔÇô stretch completion times by at least another year.
• Running costs are very low as there are effectively no fuel purchases. Prices of solar and wind technology have dropped very sharply in the past 10 years. The cost ÔÇô including building and other expenses ÔÇô of solar and wind electricity is now well below the corresponding expenses for electricity from gas, nuclear and even coal.
• Their extremely low carbon emissions mitigate global warming and makes solar and wind energy attractive for investors.

Solar and wind power however have obvious drawbacks. The main one is that their operational capacity entirely depends on the weather. Furthermore, solar energy production is linked to the day-night cycle, with maximum efficiency around noon. This doesnÔÇÖt coincide with the electricity demand peaks in the early morning and early evening.

Could renewable energy dominate?

The ideal of a national electricity generation network without greenhouse gas emitting coal, gas plants and radioactive waste generating nuclear plants has practically already been achieved in a number of medium-sized countries such as Costa Rica, Iceland and Paraguay. But these mainly rely on hydropower.

Several larger countries, such as Germany, now generate over half of their electricity from renewables. More countries are setting road-maps to achieve 100% renewable electricity.

In theory, with South AfricaÔÇÖs wind and solar resources superior to other countries with 100% renewable electricity ambitions, this should be a relatively easy target to reach. But other countries are often grid connected to neighbours with significant power production. This means they can draw on these when weather conditions are unfavourable.

That is why a renewable electricity system canÔÇÖt become the dominant power source in South Africa until electricity storage technologies become practical and economical.

A target of 50% electricity from renewables is however perfectly feasible. ItÔÇÖs the minimum that the country should aspire to. Even the 2019 electricity plan projected this would happen by 2050.

Renewable energy in South Africa

Considering the climatic advantage, the fraction of electricity generated from renewable energy technologies is surprisingly low. Despite this small fraction, there is significant hostility to renewable developments in some quarters. Some sectors have interests in maintaining the coal-dominated status quo.

In assessing the contribution of renewable energy sources to the electricity supply itÔÇÖs important to distinguish between power (the rate at which it is produced at any particular moment) and energy (the total produced over an extended time period).

In view of the variability of the wind strength and the intermittence of sunlight, these technologies only occasionally produce power at top capacity. In typical South African conditions a 100 MW solar or wind plant only generates about a third of the energy of a functioning 100 MW coal plant.

Thus the recently announced construction of an additional 2 600 MW of wind and solar farms will effectively only produce electricity equivalent to about 900 MW averaged over a day ÔÇô this equates to only about 15% of the worst power shortfalls experienced to date.

Overcoming the present 6 000 MW power shortages therefore requires approximately 15 000 MW of new solar and wind plants. The continuing deterioration in the efficiency of the large coal power plants means that the actual need for new renewable generating capacity in the next five years is closer to 20 000 MW. In the current electricity plan, this scale of renewable energy developments was projected over a time span of 10 years.

There is now an increasing recognition that the energy crisis must be treated as such. A speedy renewable energy boom is the only way to escape the downward spiral in power cuts in the medium term.

President Cyril RamaphosaÔÇÖs announcement that drastic steps are imminent to combat the electricity crisis are likely to amount to a major drive towards more renewables. This will not unduly place the South African electricity supply at the mercy of the weather or developments in storage technology, as the contribution of electricity from coal would still amount to around 60%.

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Entrepreneur providing cheaper power sources for when Eskom pulls the plug

Mervyn Naidoo – 6h ago

LOAD shedding gets many South Africans going ÔÇ£eishÔÇØ and cussing at power utility Eskom, which would have happened with greater frequency this week after parts of the country experienced stage six power cuts.

?® Provided by Sunday TribuneEntrepreneur providing cheaper power sources for when Eskom pulls the plug

But a former Durban woman, together with her team of ÔÇ£litÔÇØ experts, have produced affordable alternate energy solutions to provide some relief in the dark hours.

Nafisa Fareed is the chief executive and driving force behind Power4Less, a Johannesburg-based company that specialises in providing electric utilities.

?® Provided by Sunday TribuneBusinesswoman Nafisa Fareed is using her entrepreneurial nous and her team of experts to create alternative energy solutions. Picture: Supplied

Power4Less specialises in custom-made lighting solutions and has also made strides with their other energy-efficient products, including an ÔÇ£always hotÔÇØ geyser that significantly reduces electricity bills, and is due for release later this year.

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Fareed said her company, which was started in 2008, entered the alternate energy market because ÔÇ£it needed competitionÔÇØ, and — together with her team — they intend to ÔÇ£disrupt a space that was previously for the elite onlyÔÇØ.

ÔÇ£There are always categories in a market that caters for a specific LSM, but power is a necessity for everyone, including RDP homes and shacks.

ÔÇ£Therefore, it cannot be a market specific to affordability only,ÔÇØ she said.

Like all switched-on entrepreneurs, Fareed said she and her team realised in advance that load shedding was going to become a reality in South Africa.

ÔÇ£Our power stations were old and there was no downtime for repairs.ÔÇØ

Another tell-tale sign for her was that the need for electricity had grown astronomically.

ÔÇ£The LSM barriers in many areas had shifted. Before, only certain groups could afford luxury items like air conditioners. Not any more. The lack of planning resulted in no steps being taken to service the growing need for electricity.ÔÇØ

Fareed said previously stage 4, 5, and 6 of load shedding were foreign; nowadays, blackouts have become a reality.

Bearing in mind the countryÔÇÖs energy needs, Fareed and her crew, comprising electrical engineers, technicians and other specialists, worked towards providing reliable alternative energy solutions.

Their products are currently being sold at some of the countryÔÇÖs leading hardware and supermarket chain stores.

Included in Power4LessÔÇÖs range of creations was their version of the twirly compact fluorescent lamps (CFL), which burns brighter and uses 15 watts of power as opposed to the norm of up to 100 watts.

Power4Less has patented a LSP lightbulb that contains a charger and stores power while connected to the grid, but once load shedding kicks in, they are able to function for up to four hours using stored energy.

?® Provided by Sunday TribuneNasifa Fareed says the Mobi Vault was a power source that can be leaned on during power outages Picture: Supplied

ÔÇ£Power in a suitcaseÔÇØ is what their ÔÇ£Mobi VaultÔÇØ product has been dubbed. This compact energy source, which can be carried or rolled in a case, is powered up using either solar energy, AC power points or a car battery charger.

Depending on an individual’s preference, Mobi Vaults can provide between 0.5 to 5 kilowatts of energy.

Fareed said the soon-to-be-launched geysers would consume R1 worth of electricity daily, whereas standard geysers consume about R45 of power a day.

ÔÇ£Elements usually blow out on geysers, but ours functions without one. Insurance companies are going to love them,ÔÇØ Fareed enthused.

Power4LessÔÇÖ products and solutions have also been endorsed by some government departments and leading corporates.

She said the company ÔÇ£changed peopleÔÇÖs lives from being in a state of frustration to relief, and we make a profit from doing thatÔÇØ.

ÔÇ£When I started in the world of self-employment, I didnÔÇÖt have criteria on what people expected an entrepreneur to be,ÔÇØ she said.

Fareed said everything she learnt was done on the ground, making mistakes.

ÔÇ£I built a business making many mistakes, and I flourished having made mistakes.ÔÇØ

Only after six years of self-employment did she feel financially stable enough to study for her MBA qualification, before achieving a masterÔÇÖs degree in finance from the University of Leicester in 2021.

Initially, she completed a diploma in food technology at the Durban University of Technology in 2004, before entering the working world.

About getting drawn to the field of electronics, Fareed said as an entrepreneur she was able to see a niche in the market.

ÔÇ£I have always been drawn to profit in value. As an entrepreneur, I find it inspiring to deliver value and be profitable, while making an impact by changing lives in a quality way.ÔÇØ

Fareed said she noticed a need in the alternative energy market, surrounded herself with leaders in the industry, and had increased her core team over the years.

While she doesnÔÇÖt have an electrical engineering qualification, Fareed has acquired various accreditations in aspects like solar, wiring and alternative energy solutions.

ÔÇ£IÔÇÖve made the effort to take courses that give me a better understanding into how everything works,ÔÇØ she said.

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