Engineering News Online Audio Articles

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a leading supplier of products, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation.

Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) has added the Hilux double-cab and Fortuner 48 V mild hybrids to its local production line-up at its Durban plant in KwaZulu-Natal.

The addition of the new models brings Toyota's local hybrid production tally to three, adding to the existing Corolla Cross hybrid assembly.

TSAM says the launch of the models "introduces electrification to the pick-up and sports-utility vehicle (SUV) range for the first time".

The Hilux is South Africa's best-selling vehicle, while the Fortuner still commands the largest slice of the medium SUV segment in South Africa, with average sales of more 800 units a month and a market share of 40%.

"By adding a hybrid 48 V system to the Hilux and Fortuner, Toyota strengthens its inclusive multi-technology pathway approach to carbon neutrality," notes the local arm of the Japanese manufacturer.

"Toyota believes all customers need a variety of affordable and practical options, including for commercial and off-road vehicles."

The hybrid system uses Toyota's 2.8 l diesel engine. This engine drives a compact motor generator using a belt system, which, in turn, charges the new 48 V, 7.6 kg lithium battery, which is small enough to be installed under the rear seats to minimise impact on cabin space.

This battery also supplies the vehicle's 12 V system.

Like Toyota's full hybrid electric systems, the battery is charged during deceleration, regenerating braking energy that would otherwise be lost, while also adding additional braking performance.

Once charged, the battery sends up to 12 kW of power and 65 Nm of torque through the motor generator to the engine to enhance acceleration, power and efficiency.

Toyota says the motor generator is compact and has been designed to withstand the harsher working environments of commercial vehicles, while the engine has been modified to adapt to the hybrid system.

"A new two-arm belt tensioner and stronger belt material contribute to the improved drivability and a quieter ride, whilst retaining the vehicle's famous durability."

Toyota also notes that the hybrid system, as well as an enhanced stop-start system that allows the engine to remain off for longer periods, both serve to improve fuel efficiency by up to 5% compared with the conventional non-electrified diesel powertrain.

Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Toyota and Ford are all currently producing some form of hybrid in South Africa, or will soon do so.

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a leading supplier of products, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation.

Transnet CEO Michelle Phillips has acknowledged the initial negative reaction to a proposed tariff methodology published for comment by the interim Infrastructure Manager (IM) alongside the country's inaugural draft Network Statement, which will be used to govern access to the railway network for all train operators, including Transnet Freight Rail and private operators.

However, speaking during the African Rail Industry Association (ARIA) annual general meeting, Phillips stressed that the methodology, which was based on an allowable revenue formula, had been benchmarked internationally and reviewed by reputable external advisers.

"The methodology itself is a reasonable formula that allows the IM to recover costs associated with keeping the network at a standard that is reliable, safe and available and thus able to support freight rail logistics as required by industry," she said.

The actual rate, Phillips added, had many dependencies, including whether government was able to provide support, as was the case in other countries where rail reforms had been implemented. However, the deterioration of the network, together with a maintenance backlog, meant that significant investment was required.

That said, Phillips stressed that stakeholders had an opportunity to comment on both the Network Statement and the tariff methodology as part of a public participation process that would be facilitated by the Interim Rail Economic Regulatory Capacity (IRERC).

"This is not Transnet trying to increase its revenues, it's an indication of what it costs to run this network and we expect everybody to interrogate it and engage with it and use the platform being provided by IRERC to comment."

In his address, ARIA chairperson James Holley recognised the publication of the Network Statement as a "watershed moment" for the sector, but stressed that further research and consultations were required to assess whether the statement would truly open the way for investment.

He said ARIA would work with its members to ensure that the Network Statement embedded national rail policy principles and became a "document that practically translates to investment into trains".

In addition, the association would continue to champion the concessioning of portions of the network itself, which it viewed as necessary to facilitate the investment required to support efficient train operations in a context of fiscal constraint and a weak Transnet balance sheet.

"In the general freight market, where rail and road compete on price, it is likely that private sector investment into trains will be significantly undermined by the operating risks and inefficiencies that result from poor track condition," Holley warned, while estimating the maintenance underspend between 2013 and 2023 at R29.9-billion.

Partnerships were, thus, required to fund specific capacity expansions given that the concessioning of network segments had the potential to reinvigorate the rail sector, while retaining public ownership of the railway infrastructure.

"These concessions need to be brought to the market with urgency," Holley argued.

Meanwhile, Phillips confirmed that there had been a recovery in rail volumes since the launch of the Transnet Recovery Plan late last year, which would reflect in the 2023/24 volume performance.

"The recovery in rail services has resulted in an increased forecast of about 150.8-million tons from the 142-million tons forecast at the initial implementation of the recovery plan.

"We know we had promised a 154-million ton number … [and] we were very nicely on track, but in early January we had that rather big derailment on the coal line and we also had two derailments on the ore line," she explained.

In 2022/23, rail volumes slumped to 149-million tons having been at 226-million prior to Covid.

Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses the fast-approaching deadline for public comment on the draft Integrated Resource Plan of 2023 and stakeholders' likely reaction.

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a leading supplier of products, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation.

The South African Independent Power Producer Association (SAIPPA) has added its voice to a growing chorus of opposition to the draft Integrated Resource Plan 2023 (IRP 2023), the comment deadline for which is on March 23.

In its formal comment on the draft, SAIPPA argues that the document is seriously flawed and inadequate to meet the energy challenges of South Africa.

"In its current form, the IRP does not constitute a firm plan to address the urgent energy security shortages and lacks the sense of urgency required to get the country out of a protracted energy crisis, which is causing devastating economic harm."

This conclusion gels with the one made by Meridian Economics in its submission, in which it argues that serious problems with the modelling and cost assumptions used have resulted in the IRP 2023 arriving at "incorrect and economically damaging conclusions".

SAIPPA argues that the IRP 2023, which includes two time horizons, "plans to fail" in the first horizon to 2030 by planning for a deficit, represented by ongoing loadshedding until at least 2027, instead of modelling options to address the shortage through the addition of new capacity.

While questioning the rationale for the splitting of the plan into two horizons, the organisation also raises serious issues with Horizon 2, which it believes has been artificially shaped by a set of undisclosed new-build constraints to "derive a particular outcome".

This, instead of modelling for least-cost generation, while meeting greenhouse-gas emission goals and ensuring stable and consistent electricity supply.

"In both horizons, it appears that new-build constraints were applied as the outcomes across all scenarios show clearly that solar photovoltaic (PV) could not exceed 900 MW per annum up to 2050.

"Additionally, wind capacity looks to be constrained between 2031 and 2040, where no more than 17.2 GW cumulative was allowed across all scenarios."

Such constraints, SAIPPA says, make no sense from both a modelling and practical perspective, while describing as "preposterous" a scenario whereby these limits remain constant for decades.

SAIPPA also questions all the technology cost assumptions used by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, noting that the solar PV and wind costs used are far higher than what has been achieved in various domestic procurement rounds, while the model does not cater for battery technology learning rates.

But contrast it describes costs assigned to concentrated solar power and nuclear as "optimistic".

"In essence the document is biased against renewable energy, by using the wrong cost comparisons … whilst nuclear and gas costs are almost always used in the lower percentile of cost and are, hence, optimistically reflected.

"This results in outcomes that do not compare with what is happening elsewhere in the world."

SAIPPA also questions the high load factor of above 50% assigned to gas-to-power facilities, as well as the inclusion of a scenario that assumes a steep recovery in the coal fleet energy availability factor (EAF), which has been declining for years.

Also highlighted is the fact that the IRP 2023 does not clarify the cost assumptions used in the scenario where the shutdown of the coal fleet is delayed and whether these costs include investments at the five stations to meet South Africa's minimum emission standards.

From a policy perspective, meanwhile, SAIPPA notes inconsistencies between the IRP 2023 and various other government policies, including its goal to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

In its submission, SAIPPA also argues that the government, in drafting the IRP, should also take account of the envisaged liberalisation of the market, which will result in a gradual transition towards competition, especially in generation.

"The need to have a formal IRP determination ...

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a leading supplier of products, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation.

In an excoriating assessment of the draft Integrated Resource Plan 2023 (IRP 2023), Meridian Economics points to serious problems with the modelling and cost assumptions used by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), which the consultancy says has resulted in "incorrect and economically damaging conclusions".

Released days ahead of the March 23 deadline for public comment, Meridian described the IRP 2023 as an opaque document that fails to achieve its own stated purpose of ensuring a secure, affordable and clean power system.

The long-awaited publication of the document on January 4 was met with immediate dismay when it emerged that it included loadshedding until at least 2027, which the IRP 2023 indicated could be addressed only through an improbably steep recovery in the performance of the Eskom coal fleet and a materially enlarged gas-to-power (GtP) fleet, operating at extremely high capacity factors.

It also departed from previous versions by including two time horizons, with the GtP-heavy and renewables-light Horizon 1 covering the period to 2030, and Horizon 2 the period thereafter to 2050.

An initial deadline of February 23 was set for public comment and the DMRE controversially refused to entertain public hearings; instead hosting only two virtual workshops, where public participation was limited to that of asking questions.

The deadline was subsequently extended by Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe to March 23 "in order to allow maximum participation in this process".

In its 92-page comment, Meridian concludes that the IRP 2023's failure to achieve system adequacy in the short term - along with a lack of transparency on key assumptions and an inadequate consultation process - has left the document lacking in credibility and out of step with various other government policies, including on climate, air quality, green industrialisation and nuclear.

The methodology used to draft the IRP 2023 is described as confusing and inadequate to substantiate the outcomes, which Meridian concludes have arisen largely because of undisclosed constraints on the building of new solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind and an over-pricing of renewables.

INEXPLICABLE NEW-BUILD LIMITS

Meridian is particularly critical of the "inexplicable new-build limits" imposed on solar PV and wind in Horizon 2, which cap the yearly build of solar PV at 900 MW and wind at 1 720 MW.

"There is no rational basis for such binding constraints, with 2.5 GW of rooftop solar PV added in South Africa in 2023 alone and 5 GW of panels imported."

These "artificial, undisclosed constraints have been applied in generating the reference pathway", while several of the cost assumptions used as inputs are "problematic", the comment document adds.

Technology costs used for wind, solar PV, concentrated solar power (CSP) and battery storage are significantly higher than the actual realised tariffs from recent procurement rounds and also ignore future technology learning.

By contrast, the nuclear costs used are those received from vendors through the recent request for information, involving nonbinding indicative prices, while no costs are provided for flue gas desulphurisation retrofits and carbon capture, utilisation and storage.

The methodology, Meridian adds, lacks optimisation, with the Horizon 1 analysis considering only capacity currently in development, with no power system optimisation conducted to determine potential additional new capacity that may end loadshedding sooner.

The Horizon 2 analysis also includes technology combinations that are determined prior to optimisation, "presenting a false choice of options from a limited set of seemingly arbitrary and unrealistic technology combinations".

Meridian also questions the IRP's accepting as given Eskom's delayed coal decommissioni...

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a leading supplier of products, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation.

Given the current economic downturn, government does not have the resources to look after all of its assets, says Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) property management trading entity head Siza Sibande.

"Hence we want to partner with the private sector to improve public facilities."

Addressing a media conference at the Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium South Africa 2024, held in Cape Town this week, Sibande noted that the DPWI was now focused on leveraging and optimising State assets.

"We developed a strategy that we call the State Immovable Asset Optimisation strategy.

"We have entered a new phase where government will apply partnerships/collaborations with the private sector, such as refurbishment, operate and transfer; and build, operate and transfer.

"The focus here is to leverage State assets by unlocking the value of underutilised immovable State assets."

Sibande noted that the State had the biggest asset portfolio in the country, "yet the value we created out of these assets was close to zero".

He added that the State's targeted immovable asset portfolio comprised of about 29 000 land parcels, or 4.7-million hectares of land.

"This is quite a big portfolio that should be able to create a return on investment."

Roughly 25% of the total land parcels were stand-alone and unutilised.

"These are at risk of illegal occupations," said Sibande.

Around 3% of the properties are in Pretoria alone, he added, with one of these being Telkom Towers.

"This is one of those properties we want to leverage. It stands in the centre of the city. If we can refurbish it, we change the face of the inner city."

Sibande said the State also held a large agricultural portfolio, "and we would want our people to have access to those properties with long leases".

He added that DPWI had "issued the first round of some of these assets yesterday (March 17)."

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a leading supplier of products, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation.

National Treasury has allocated Infrastructure South Africa (ISA) a budget of R600-million over three years to "prepare projects", says ISA head Mameetse Masemola.

Addressing a media conference at Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium South Africa (Sidssa) 2024, held in Cape Town this week, Masemola explained that there had been a "decimation of the skills" required for State projects to reach financial close, and ultimately, procurement and construction.

However, ISA now had R200-million a year to help prepare projects that were deemed strategic, that had a potentially high gross domestic product impact, and that would contribute to South Africa's competitiveness.

In the past four months the number of projects under preparation within ISA had reached 31.

"These were historical projects that had failed to get funding from National Treasury in terms of Treasury's budget facility for infrastructure," said Masemola. "We are now preparing to package these projects."

These projects included schools infrastructure programmes in the Northern Cape and the Eastern Cape, as well as four tertiary hospitals - two in Mpumalanga and two in the Free State.

There also projects in South Africa's special economic zones.

"Form ISA's side we are supporting these in terms of bulk infrastructure so that we can unlock investment in the top infrastructure," noted Masemola.

ISA's main aim was to close the infrastructure investment gap.

Masemola noted that there was a significant gap between the funding available through the fiscus and the number of projects that required investment.

"R5.7-trillion is required to close the investment gap by 2050."

She added that ISA was pivoting its pipeline to public-private partnerships (PPPs), as expressed by the Minister of Finance.

The South African Infrastructure Fund (SAIF) was part of ISA. It was created to facilitate blended finance infrastructure projects.

SAIF chief investment officer Mohale Rakgate noted at Sidssa 2024 that this fund had been working with project owners from various sectors of the economy to identify projects that lend themselves to blended finance.

"In our context blended finance refers to projects that cannot become bankable without fiscal intervention - meaning the private sector will not be attracted to build and finance these projects.

"Where we come in is to structure these projects so that we can mobilise funding from National Treasury, and, on the back of that funding, invite the private sector to participate.

"To date we have mobilised R25-billion from Treasury.

"With that we can now go out to market and mobilise R70-billion of investment to fund the projects we have. We are now ready to engage investors."

Projects in an advanced stage of implementation included social housing projects in Newcastle and Midrand; bulk infrastructure supply for a 30 000-housing unit project in Johannesburg; water infrastructure projects in Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal; and a project in partnership with the Department of Home Affairs to develop six ports of entry into South Africa to ensure efficiency in the movement of goods and people.

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a leading supplier of products, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation.

The South African Wind Energy Association's (SAWEA's) formal response to the draft Integrated Resource Plan 2023 (IRP 2023) questions both the modelling and assumptions used to determine the vastly diminished allocation for wind energy in the period to 2030 when compared with the prevailing plan.

It will also call for an overhaul of the document, including its post-2030 Horizon Two, given the lack of transparency in the current version regarding the modelling constraints employed, as well as the embedded policy adjustments and their associated costs.

The public comment period closes on March 23, having been extended by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) from an initial date of February 23.

CEO Niveshen Govender notes that, when compared with the prevailing IRP 2019, the allocation for new wind generation has fallen dramatically from 14.4 GW by 2030 to only 3 GW.

"It's a huge reduction," Govender told Engineering News in an interview as SAWEA was putting the final touches to its written comments to the DMRE.

"If you look at the energy mix of new generation capacity, wind has fallen from 37% to 19% and we are naturally concerned about how the modelling was done to arrive at such an outcome."

Besides questioning the modelling, SAWEA is also highlighting the lack of alignment between the draft IRP 2023 and the costing used for wind, with the document unclear on how the Electric Power Research Institute and Lazard costing was applied and how these costs relate to prices achieved through various domestic procurement rounds.

Likewise, the IRP 2023's "misalignment" with several other policy and industry plans that assume a far higher penetration of wind will be highlighted, including with the National Development Plan, Eskom's Transmission Development Plan and the Energy Action Plan.

The absence of a "cost of scenarios" is also of concern, with Govender noting that this information was not contained either in the draft document itself, or in the supporting documentation released following its publication.

"We really need to understand what the costs are, including if there is a higher cost to get to energy security sooner."

The draft IRP 2023 assumes ongoing loadshedding until at least 2027 and indicates that the shortfall will be overcome only once there is 7 220 MW of new gas-to-power capacity built and operating at a "high utilisation factor".

The fact that the IRP 2023 does not cater for system adequacy has been heavily criticised by several stakeholders, given that IRP's are primarily techno-economic models of what generation capacity should be maintained and built to match supply and demand.

Govender stresses that SAWEA's members are not energy system specialists and will thus not comment in detail on the failure of the draft IRP 2023 to address loadshedding.

"What we can point out, though, is the fact that the 3.4 GW of wind currently in the system is helping to reduce two stages of loadshedding almost daily and that more could have been done had the wind allocation in the IRP 2019 been built as intended."

Instead, none of the wind allocated for public procurement between 2020 and 2030 has been built to date and there are concerns that the 3.2 GW allocated to the current Bid Window Seven (BW7) could go the same way as BW6, when none of the wind projects advanced to the preferred-bidder stage.

"Although the curtailment addendum to the Grid Capacity Connection Assessment does unlock over 3 400 MW in the Western and Eastern Cape provinces, the scenario that arose during BW6 can only be avoided if it is coupled with Eskom's Gated Generator Connection Process, which is not the case currently," Govender highlighted.

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a leading supplier of products, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation.

In 2023, Toyota took top position as South Africa's most sold used-car brand with 60 296 units changing hands, while the Ford Ranger reigned supreme as the country's most sold model, at 20 156 units.

This is according to the 2023 AutoTrader Car Industry Report, released this week.

The report shows that online car-buying is a phenomenon that continues to gain traction in South Africa.

Since 2019, visits to the AutoTrader site have increased by 97%, while the number of in-market car shoppers has already grown by 11% this year.

The website generated more than 127-million visits in total in 2023, with more than 467-million online car searches conducted.

The newest report also shows that the average selling price decreased by 7.6% to R399 163 in 2023, down from R432 407 in 2022, as cash-strapped South African consumers continued to seek out cheaper mobility options.

The average mileage on the clock recorded a slight upturn - from 75 939 km in 2022, to 77 783 km in 2023.

Search data on AutoTrader is regarded as an indicator of the popularity of a brand and/or model - and Volkswagen, and specifically the Volkswagen Golf, came up trumps in this regard.

The former was the most searched-for brand, while the latter was the most searched-for model.

AutoTrader says advert view data indicates the interest in one car or brand over another - and here, BMW was the most viewed brand.

The Volkswagen Polo was the most viewed model, kicking last year's most viewed model, the Toyota Hilux, into fifth place.

Finally, enquiry data points to the brand or the car consumers will most likely buy, and here South Africans spoke with one voice - the most enquired brand was Toyota.

On the other hand, South Africa's favourite bakkie, the Toyota Hilux, was replaced by the Volkswagen Polo as the most enquired model.

Engineering News editor Terence Creamer discusses the reasons for the extension of the bid submissions deadline for Bid Window 7 of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme, what this could mean for other procurement rounds and the anticipated outcome of Bid Window 7.