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Green hydrogen development company Hyphen Hydrogen Energy (Hyphen) is optimistic that the implementation agreement for a planned $10-billion project will be signed with the Namibian government by year-end.

The signing of the implementation agreement will trigger the commencement of the front-end engineering design phase of the project, which will be constructed over two phases with the eventual goal of producing 350 000 t/y of green hydrogen from 5 GW to 6 GW of renewable generation capacity and a 3 GW electrolyser.

The $4.4-billion first phase is expected to produce 125 000 t/y of green hydrogen, to be further processed into 700 000 t/y of green ammonia for export to Europe.

A joint venture between Nicholas Holdings of the UK and ENERTRAG of Germany, Hyphen was awarded preferred-bidder status in November last year on some 4 000 km2 of land within the Tsau //Khaeb National Park, near Lüderitz.

The Namibian government has earmarked 25 000 km2 within the region for the development of a green-hydrogen industry involving multiple investors.

In June, Namibia’s Cabinet endorsed the composition and appointment of the ‘Government Negotiations Team’ assembled to finalise the implementation agreement with Hyphen, as well as the proposed timeline of its signature.

Hyphen and the Namibian government aim to begin construction in January 2025, with commissioning of the first phase by the end of 2026.

The total investment over both phases is roughly the equivalent of Namibia’s current yearly gross domestic product.

Hyphen CEO Marco Raffinetti said he was pleased by the Namibian government’s commitment towards concluding the implementation agreement, which would facilitate the start of the next phase of the project.

“Our project will put Namibia’s green hydrogen industry firmly on the global energy and decarbonisation map and position Namibia for rapid green-hydrogen scalability,” Raffinetti said in a statement.

Hyphen also reported the appointment of the Boston Consulting Group and Lazard as its international strategic and financial advisers respectively, complementing its existing legal advisory team, comprising Slaughter and May and ENS Africa.

Sometimes, a pandemic is not the worst thing that can happen to a company.

When Covid-19 hit, the pandemic did interrupt MellowVans’ global rollout plans, but it also prompted the Stellenbosch-based manufacturer to revisit the design of its electric three-wheel delivery vehicle, as well as its operating model.

“We realised just before lockdown in 2020 that we would like to improve our product by rather working to a European standard for our vehicles, which is aimed at the last-mile market,” says founder and CEO Neil du Preez.

He adds that the global marketplace saw an explosion in online shopping because of Covid-19 and, subsequently, also in last-mile deliveries in sectors such as e-commerce, retail and food.

“South Africa is still trailing these global growth numbers, but we are catching up,” notes Du Preez.

MellowVans’ redesign ended up being more of a remanufacturing process than a mere facelift, with everything on the electric vehicle (EV) upgraded, with the exception of the fibreglass composite outer shell.

“We sourced the best of everything we could find, made the vehicle lose some weight, and ensured that it would fully satisfy European standards,” says Du Preez.

“The result is a comfortable new vehicle that is a premium product built for Africa and Europe – in fact, it exceeds European safety standards.”

Production of the new-look vehicle started in January.

Operating costs of the new vehicle are at around 13c/km, with the 2.5 m3 cargo bay able to carry more, and larger items than competitor vehicles, says Du Preez.

“There is nothing on the road that can come close to our costs per cubed meter.”

He adds that the MellowVans’ number compares favourably with the AA rate for a small internal combustion engine delivery vehicle, at around R5.50/km, as well as an electric motorbike, which would have to make numerous trips to carry the same load volume.

The MellowVans vehicle is also feature-rich compared with a motorcycle, with a comfortable, lumbar support seat, safety belt, rollover cage, weather protection, as well as Bluetooth.

The top speed is electronically limited to 60 km/h, as the vehicle is designed to operate only on urban roads.

The range of the 10.7 kWh battery pack is around 100 km, with recharging through a standard wall plug, provided by an on-board charger.

Charging from empty to full takes around four hours.

The cargo area can also be customised to customer requirements, such as rails for a laundry business, or shelving for a retailer.

“We are currently looking at options around cooling the cargo area,” says Du Preez.

He also notes that around 70% of the vehicle is produced locally, by value.

MellowVans buys the battery from a South African company, which imports the cells to build the batteries.

“We make use of our own battery management system,” says Du Preez.

He adds that MellowVans is set to receive some benefits from government’s Automotive Production and Development Programme, as it is currently being revised to accommodate smaller manufacturers.

“Government did engage us, and we are participating in the process,” says Du Preez.

MellowVans employs around 35 people.

“We are looking at growing our production capacity, with exports in mind,” says Du Preez.

The MellowVan is currently undergoing testing in The Netherlands.

Locally, Takealot, Spar and DHL are all MellowVans customers.

“Our order book looks good, with a decent production pipeline,” says Du Preez.

EVs-as-a-service

Covid-19 not only prompted a change in MellowVans’ vehicles, but also in its operating model, with the vans no longer on sale, but leased to customers in what is known as EVs-as-a-service.

“We offer a three-year lease that includes everything – insurance, maintenance and training,” explains Du Preez.

One other, additional clause on the table is an advertising component.

“Either we brand the vehicle ourselves, or the client finds someone to advertise on the vehicle to reduce the price tag on the lease contract – by how much depend...

State-owned freight logistics group Transnet has launched a High Court application through which it is seeking an order compelling China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC) E-Loco Supply to release spare parts and components required to return 120 locomotives to service.

Transnet said in a statement that the spare parts and components had been imported to service and maintain the 95 20E and 100 21E locomotives acquired from CRRC in 2012 and 2014 respectively.

“The application provides for an urgent hearing to secure the immediate release of the spares to Transnet for use in the locomotives, and for the amount due by Transnet to CRRC for such spares, if anything, to be determined in due course,” Transnet said in a statement.

Access to the spare parts and components, the utility added, would allow it to bring back to service 53 Class 20E and 67 Class 21E locomotives, which have been standing idle as a result of the inability to access the required spares and components.

“In addition, it will contribute to timely maintenance of these two fleet classes,” the statement adds.

The standoff with CRRC arose following Transnet’s 2019 decision to halt the so-called 10-64 contract, for 465 diesel and 599 electric locomotives, in which CRRC participated along with three other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

Transnet deemed the contracts, which featured during proceedings undertaken as part of the State Capture commission, to be “irregular and illegal”.

The cancellation of the contracts has left Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) with a locomotive shortfall, which Transnet aims to address through the issuance of a new tender, possibly later this month.

It has been amplified, however, by CRRC’s refusal to provide Transnet with the spares required to maintain those locomotives already supplied to the utility.

In July, Transnet CEO Portia Derby said that the impasse was partly responsible for as many as 300 locomotives having been “parked” and also indicated that an alternative OEM support strategy would be pursued for the existing fleet if the current deadlock with CRRC was not resolved.

Several TFR customers have expressed dismay at the poor performance of the rail business over the past few years, owing to a shortage of locomotives and ongoing theft across the rail network, with TFR having lost a total of 1 500 km of overhead copper wire to theft in 2021/22 alone.

Coal exporters have identified the poor performance of the rail service as a key reason for them having failed, thus far, to take full advantage of the super cycle conditions that have arisen for the energy mineral as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Steel group ArcelorMittal South Africa, meanwhile, reported that it was forced to close a blast furnace at Vanderbijlpark earlier this year, because intermittent rail deliveries had left it short of iron-ore.

The group has resorted to receiving material by road, even though the logistics systems at its mills are specifically designed to receive bulk material by rail.

Several large rail users have indicated that they will consider partnering with private rail providers should Transnet extend the sale of slots to third parties beyond the 18 general freight corridors identified for the initial phase of such sales.

Derby indicated previously that TFR was committed to making slot sales a permanent feature of the rail business.

Retail giant Shoprite has acquired 100 Euro V trucks from Scania Southern Africa, with another 140 units be delivered by the end of next year.

The Euro-scale refers to the level of exhaust pollution from a vehicle, with Euro 5 much cleaner than Euro II, which is the current South African truck-emission standard set by government.

In addition to this, higher Euro-specification vehicles also typically offer significant fuel savings.

These trucks do, however, also require clean diesel, which has become more readily available in South Africa in recent years.

Scania Southern Africa Services GM Mark Erasmus says the local arm of the Swedish truck maker conducted 45 one-month tests with a number of customers with varied needs in the local market before formally introducing the vehicle to South Africa.

In each of these tests the Euro V trucks proved to be more fuel efficient than the customers’ existing trucks by up to 10%, or more, which is significant considering current diesel prices – as well as Shoprite’s operational footprint.

The group’s fleet currently includes 903 trucks and 1 360 trailers, of which 928 are fitted with solar panels.

During the 2020/21 financial year, Shoprite’s fleet travelled close to 90-million kilometres, delivering more than 350-million cases of products to its stores.

“Operational and supply chain efficiency play a critical role in ensuring that the group remains Africa’s most affordable and accessible retailer, while reducing our environmental impact,” says Shoprite chief supply chain officer Andrew Havinga.

“We are relentless in our efforts to improve efficiencies in our supply chain as these measures are key to extending our customers’ spending abilities.”

These efforts include changing to more fuel-efficient trucks and installing solar panels on truck trailers, as these trucks can be switched off while the refrigeration function and tailgate lift run on solar power.

“By further increasing the energy efficiency of our trucks and training our drivers on how to reduce fuel consumption, we are able to lower the comparative impact of the distance our fleet travels every year,” notes Havinga.

“Scania is committed to developing sustainable transport solutions, and we are delighted to see how aligned Shoprite is to our own sustainability objectives,” says Scania Southern Africa MD Erik Bergvall.

Scania’s future product pipeline includes developments around hydrogen fuel cell trucks and electric trucks.

Consultancy XA Global Trade Advisors says billions of rands in revenue have been lost to the fiscus owing to long overdue customs duty decision-making, while also having more far-reaching implications for industries and trade and investment.

If all of the cases that required changes to customs duties had been finalised – and granted – on time, it would have ensured a collection of R1.25-billion by now, cumulatively, for every case that is long overdue.

Some cases have remained unresolved as long as three years, but XA Global founder and CEO Donald MacKay says tariff investigations should take four to six months, as per the rules of the International Trade Administration Commission (Itac) which is South Africa’s authority on goods movement across borders.

MacKay and his team conducted research into delays experienced with customs decisions at Itac and the ministries of Finance and Trade, Competition and Industry, and found that the average days taken for tariff investigations has increased to an average of 320 days since 2015, compared with an average of 191 days between 2009 and 2014.

He states in the XA Open Cases Report, which can be found at, that as localisation becomes more firmly driven, the behaviour around tariff policy is taking increasingly longer.

In addition to the fiscal losses of revenue, another R2-billion has been collected in duties for goods not made locally, adding a R2-billion cost to industries without actually protecting domestic industry.

South Africa collects about R55-billion a year in customs duties, so these delays are equivalent to more than 5% of the country’s total customs duty collections.

MacKay says the expectation is not for Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel to impose fewer or more duties, but to effect a quicker turnaround time for decisions on proposed duties to be made.

He elaborates that, of the 46 cases that are currently overdue and that have averaged 16.4 months since their initiation, the bulk of delays have been caused by the Finance and Trade, Industry and Competition ministries, with most cases leaving Itac’s desk “fairly quickly”.

Of the last three years’ cases, 58% are overdue. The rebate review and duty increase cases are most often delayed, with the average days since initiation at 834 and 771 days, respectively.

For example, tyre manufacturer Sumitomo asked for duty relief on Styrene-butadiene rubber, a raw material used to make tyres, as there are currently no local manufacturers of the material in the Southern African Customs Union region, and customs duties for this item impose additional input costs in the tyre manufacturing process.

This decision has been 22 months overdue at a cost of R34-million in the meantime.

Another example is that of value-added meat products manufacturer BRM, which has asked for a rebate of duties on chicken wings, since the company cannot find a local producer willing to commit to its volume requirements. The decision has been nine months overdue at a cost of R93-million in the meantime.

MacKay says most businesses will prefer a rejected application as opposed to pending, delayed or unknown outcomes that put vital investment decisions on hold and businesses taking strain over input costs unnecessarily.

“These delays are enormous and, most importantly, unnecessary, because the problem can be quickly resolved. Most of these cases have been fully investigated by Itac and simply need to be signed off by the Ministers.

Meanwhile, MacKay says there is much confusion legally as to the role of the Finance Minister in customs duties. During Malusi Gigaba’s term, he defended twice in court his right to take the final decision in respect of implementing duties; however, this role is not specific in the current tariff regulations or other related pieces of related regulation.

MacKay says the regulations have to be amended to make the role of the Finance Minister in this regard clear.

He also deems it necessary for an expiry period for ...

Toyota South Africa’s Prospecton plant, in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, will take three to six months to get back to full production capacity, Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) president and CEO Andrew Kirby has said.

The plant was shut temporarily following a severe flooding incident that affected predominantly a widespread area in Durban downstream of the Shongweni dam on April 12.

Sluice gates were opened at the Shongweni dam after heavy rainfall resulted in the dam reaching capacity. The release of a vast volume of water meant that mud- and silt-laden water breached the banks of the Mlazi river near Toyota’s plant in the Industrial area.

The subsequent flood resulted in water entering the ground and basement levels of the Prospecton plant, reaching depths of between 1.5 m and 1.8 m.

The resulting flood knocked out electricity, water supply and telecommunications services to the entire plant.

During a site visit on August 16, TSAM said the plant was ramping up operations, with many production lines having opened back up. The plant is expected to produce about 135 100 vehicles this year, compared with the 203 700 units a year produced prior to the flooding.

Following the flooding, TSAM embarked on an eight-stage process to ramp up operations, Phase 1 involved emergency control measures.

The second phase saw the company prioritise making operations safe, secure and clean, while Phase 3 involved restoring electricity to the plant after it was cut to prevent electrocution directly after the flood.

Phase 4 saw Toyota South Africa checking and assessing equipment, while Phase 5 involved repairs of damaged, but recoverable equipment, as well as ordering replacement equipment that could not be repaired.

Delivery of new equipment and verification thereof were taken care of in Phases 6 and 7, while the final phase involves machinery and plant start-up.

Mass production of Hino units was reached on May 24, Toyota Hi-Ace units on July 15 and the Corolla Cross on July 28. TSAM plans to go into mass production of Corolla Quest units on August 17. The Hino production line is running at full capacity.

On August 12, TSAM shipped its first post-flood batch of export vehicles to Europe, showing its commitment to scaling up operations.

TSAM is also implementing future climate resilience measures, such as raising sensitive electronic equipment off the factory floor. This is being done to ensure the company remains insurable and to ensure it can better weather any similar incident or other climate-change-related weather incidents in the future.

As Cabinet is busy approving the Just Transition Framework for publication, the Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) has unpacked a key part of what the framework will be premised on – Climate Resilience Development Pathways (CRDPs).

PCC commissioner Makoma Lekalakala says South Africa’s Just Transition can only be realised if CRDPs are at its core, while PCC secretariat Chrispian Olver states the CRDP approach is vital for implementing the Just Transition Framework.

The PCC was tasked to design a Just Transition Framework for South Africa, as a first building block towards realising a coordinated and coherent approach to just transition planning in South Africa.

Olver says CRDPs, in the South African government’s view, involve a deeply consultative process, particularly with people who have the most to lose in an energy transition, including workers in the coal value chain, women and the poorest of the poor.

The PCC has since its establishment as an advisory body to government in December 2020 embarked on pilot projects in Saldanha Bay and eThekwini to understand and determine ways of making the energy transition equitable, while ensuring a climate-resilient future.

The commission has looked at other pathway frameworks and international applications as a starting point for its work, and assessed the capacities needed to this end in South Africa. It also consulted with international experts developing and using CRDP approaches.

CRDP is focused on enabling decision-makers to systemically take into account the projected impacts of climate change on strategic infrastructure development, planning and management, alongside other traditional development criteria. It helps to manage the trade-offs between multiple sectors involved in a particular project and selects the most climate-resilient development method.

The PCC will further draft proposals for taking this work forward into various operating spaces.

University of Cape Town African Climate and Development Institute research fellow Anna Taylor explains that the CRDP follows an integrated consideration of the various systems that make up the country and the various outcomes that are dependent on the decisions made today.

The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) deems these systems to be land, ocean, coastal and freshwater ecosystems; urban, rural and infrastructure; energy; industry; and society. South Africa has taken a similar view.

The IPCC regularly investigates the conceptual and empirical advances being made on CRDPs.

IPCC co-chairperson and South African climate scientist Debra Roberts says limiting global warming to 1.5 ˚C above preindustrial levels is expected to substantially reduce damages to African economies and ecosystems.

She believes that governance for climate resilient development includes long-term planning, all-of-government approaches, transboundary cooperation and benefit-sharing, development pathways that increase adaptation and mitigation, and Nationally Determined Contribution implementation.

“Ecosystem-based adaptation in African cities has huge potential, particularly in fast-growing small- and medium-sized cities. This type of holistic thinking is centred on equity and justice, and avoids quick fixes without deeper reflection on nature or societal needs,” she states.

She adds that cross-sectoral or “nexus” approaches, as encompassed in CRDPs, such as water-energy-food or climate-ecosystems-human health can deliver multiple benefits and avoid maladaptation to climate change.

Roberts says that, while limiting climate damages may not do much to realise economic growth in every region, it will ensure that fewer millions of people in Africa are pushed into extreme poverty owing to climate change and negative health and livelihood impacts.

She explains that even though African countries are among those that contribute least to greenhouse-gas emissions globally, there are already widespread losses and damages being experienced...

Audi South Africa (SA), in partnership with GridCars, have finalised the installation of 33 electric vehicle (EV) new charging stations across the country.

The chargers include four 150 kW (DC) ultrafast, five 80 kW (DC) fast, and twenty-four 22 kW (AC) EV charger installations.

All of the chargers are available to all South African EV drivers, regardless of model or brand.

“Audi is committed to ensuring that customers of any EV can comfortably travel the country, with the reassurance that the charging infrastructure is in place to support their progressive choice of mobility,” says Audi SA head Sascha Sauer.

“With the public Audi EV chargers now formally in operation and available, our project in ensuring that there are active state-of-the-art EV chargers at key destination and lifestyle venues across South Africa is tracking well, and we are excited to officially encourage all early adopters of electric mobility to utilise these charge points.

“This is a huge encouragement towards the adoption of EVs in South Africa as it’s a positive indication towards a growing public EV charging network in our country,” he notes.

The four 150 kW (DC) public chargers in the network are the first for the South African market, says the German premium car maker.

These chargers will enable around 340 km driving range in roughly 30 minutes.

These ultrafast chargers have been strategically positioned along national roads to support long-distance travel.

They can be found at:

N1 – Colesburg, Caltex, Northern Cape

N2 – Mosselbay, Langeberg Mall, Western Cape

N3 – Tugela North, Engen, KwaZulu-Natal

N4 – Riverside Mall, Mbombela, Mpumalanga

The live 80 kW (DC) fast charging stations, enabling around 185 km in 30 minutes, can be located at:

N1 – Ventersburg, Caltex, Free State

N1 – Richmond, Caltex, Northern Cape

N2 – The Crags, Engen, Plettenburg Bay, Western Cape

N3 – Tugela South, Engen, KwaZulu-Natal

N4 – Alzu Petroport, Mpumalanga (Audi has upgraded the existing unit from DC 60 kW to DC 80 kW. GridCars has also installed a new EV charging unit at Kranskop Engen, Limpopo).

The live 22 kW dual (AC) charging stations, enabling around 100 km in about an hour, can be located at lifestyle and destination venues in the following provinces:

Western Cape:

Hazendal Wine Estate, Stellenbosch

Franschhoek Motor Museum, Franschhoek

Delaire Graff Estate, Stellenbosch

Spier Wine Estate, Stellenbosch

Thesen Island, Knysna

Graham Beck Wine Estate, Robertson

The Marine Hotel, Hermanus

The Cellars Hohenort Hotel, Constantia

D’Hub B&B, Cape L'Agulhas

Gauteng:

Parkview Shopping Centre, Pretoria

Johannesburg Country Club, Auckland Park

Royal Johannesburg & Kensington Country Club

Serengeti Golf & Wildlife Estate, Kempton Park

Johannesburg Country Club, Woodmead

Bryanston Country Club, Johannesburg

Kyalami Corner, Johannesburg

Virgin Active Bryanston, Johannesburg

Mpumalanga:

84 on Main, Dullstroom

Hazyview Junction Shopping Centre

KwaZulu-Natal:

Cornubia Mall, Mt. Edgecombe

Selborne Hotel & Golf Club, Pennington

Cedar Garden B&B, Underberg

Free State:

Protea Hotel by Marriot, Clarens

North West:

Village Mall, Haartebeespoort dam

Audi says its network can be located on the GridCars live online map.

“Our mission is to continually increase EV charging points across the country in order to drive South Africa’s green e-mobility revolution forward,” says Sauer.

Black-owned coal miner Seriti Resources says the R892-million acquisition of a majority stake in Windlab Africa’s wind and solar assets represents a significant landmark in the company’s ambition to become a diversified energy business, as well as in reducing its own carbon emissions.

Through the transaction, which is expected to close in early 2023 once Competition Commission and South African Reserve Bank approvals have been secured, Seriti Resources’ recently-established Seriti Green subsidiary will acquire a 51% controlling interest in Windlab Africa.

The balance of the company will be held by RMB (14.5%), Standard Bank (14.5%) and two individual partners, Windlab Africa’s Peter Venn (15%) and Ntiso Investment Holdings (5%).

Windlab Africa, which owns Windlab South Africa and 75% of Windlab East Africa, is currently overseeing a 3.5 GW portfolio of renewable-energy projects at different stages of development, including a 450 MW pipeline in the Mpumalanga province, where several Seriti mines are located.

Seriti Resources CEO Mike Teke describes the acquisition as a timely and strategic addition to the group’s portfolio of coal assets, which include the New Vaal, New Denmark, Kriel, Khutala, Klipspruit and Middelburg Mine Services operations, as well as the New Largo mine under development.

The operations, which were acquired from Anglo American and South32, supply several Eskom coal stations and also export coal through the Richards Bay Coal Terminal.

Teke says Seriti’s commitment to the responsible and reliable production of coal for both domestic consumption and export remains unwavering. However, the company is conscious of the impact that fossil fuels have on the environment and is, thus, committed to playing an active role in helping manage the just transition to a low-carbon economy.

“The introduction of renewable energy into Seriti’s existing portfolio of high-quality coal assets will provide long-term financial stability and diversification whilst embracing alternative energy sources and helping to secure the country’s power needs.”

Seriti uses 750 GWh of electricity in the process of mining and in October last year it signed an agreement with Eskom and Exxaro outlining its commitment to start using wind and solar energy at its own facilities from 2023.

“We need to be moving towards a lower-carbon future through investing capital from coal into green energy.

“It is not only the right thing to do, but it makes business and societal sense,” Teke says.

450 MW MPUMALANGA WIND PROJECT

Venn reports that, once the transaction is completed, Seriti Green will be seeking to build 1 GW of capacity across the country as quickly as possible and that he expects work on a 450 MW, R12-billion, Mpumalanga wind farm to begin in the first half of 2023.

Seriti CFO Doug Gain reports that Seriti Coal is likely to contract 150 MW of the initial 450 MW to be developed and that its models point to material electricity cost savings relative to the Eskom Megaflex tariff, which continues to rise.

The initial wind project will be developed on grid-ready land that is not owned by Seriti, which plans to begin permitting, in parallel, its own properties for the future roll-out of wind, solar and battery storage assets.

“With African ownership and local capital, the business will now be able to accelerate the development of its significant pipeline to assist in alleviating the electricity shortages on the African continent,” Windlab CEO John Martin asserts.

Prior to the proposed transaction, Windlab only developed South Africa renewables projects, and did not take ownership, as its parent company currently does in Australia.

Under the new umbrella, however, the ambition is for Seriti Green to build and own the projects and for the company to implement a 3 GW South Africa portfolio by 2030, which would entail an investment of about R75-billion.

Venn says the recent lifting by President Cyril Ramaphosa of the 100 MW licence-exemption cap on distri...

The City of Cape Town, which is in the process of procuring up to 200 MW of renewable energy from independent power producers (IPPs), expects to initiate a utility scale battery energy storage system (BESS) programme in 2023.

It is also working on the design of a so-called ‘dispatchable IPP programme’ that could deliver first power in 2026 as part of a broader strategy to improve security of supply and mitigate against intensifying load-shedding.

Generation development manager Shane Prins told delegates during a webinar on August 12 that he expected BESS to emerge as a major component of the city’s unfolding energy resilience strategy.

“Multiple use cases are seen as feasible within the city to support the BESS business case, with the main focus currently on network investment deferral, back-up supply to critical facilities and, at a later stage, arbitrage,” Prins said during the event, co-hosted by the Association of Municipal Electricity Utilities and the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers.

Detailed location analysis had been completed and the city would now focus on developing site-specific BESS business cases.

In parallel, the City of Cape Town had completed the initial design of a ‘dispatchable IPP programme’, which would be “technology agnostic” and implemented through a competitive tender process.

Prins said the solutions would have to be both dispatchable and able to generate over extended periods, which made the procurement complex and potentially expensive.

“The impact on the tariff will, thus, be a key consideration.”

Should it proceed, the dispatchable programme was likely to be larger than the current embedded renewables IPP procurement and, depending on the final technology selected, could require enabling infrastructure.

Nevertheless, the city viewed the programme as having “significant catalytic potential for economic growth in the city and the province” and was, thus, aiming to secure first power under the scheme in 2026.

Prins reported that the city had been encouraged by the response to the embedded IPP tender launched in February and that first power is still expected by the end of 2025.

However, he reported that recent increases in renewables component prices posed a risk to bidders meeting the price cap set.

Cape Town was also moving ahead with its own-generation projects, including a 10 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) facility to be sited on vacant land in Atlantis and connected directly into the city’s network.

Project execution is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2023 and the initiative was being treated as a “lighthouse project”, or a possible template for similar, but bigger, projects in future.

One such project could be the Paardevlei solar PV development, in Somerset West, where land parcels have been identified for a possible 50 MW to 60 MW facility.

In addition, it Cape Town is assessing further rooftop and small ground mounted PV projects and is piloting a floating solar facility at the Kraaifontein wastewater treatment works, which could reduce evaporation and deliver a higher yield as a result of its proximity to the water’s cooling effect.

EKURHULENI SEES WHEELING AS REVENUE OPPORTUNITY

Gauteng metropolitan council Ekurhuleni, meanwhile, reaffirmed that it had a target of ensuring that 30% of its electricity was derived from renewable or clean sources by 2030, not only to support its decarbonisation strategy, but to improve security of supply and to reduce costs.

Chief engineer Hendrik Raedani said the business case for pursuing energy transition initiatives had improved in line with falling renewables costs and was being amplified by the growth in demand for green energy from certain businesses operating in Ekurhuleni, including data centres.

He reported that the city had already appointed 47 IPPs to procure 683 MW of renewable energy, while registered embedded generators in the region had a combined capacity of 400 MW.

Ekurhuleni expects savings of R13.9-billion as a res...