Page 10 - AfrElec Week 40

AfrElec
NEWS IN BRIEF
AfrElec
HYDRO
Egypt keen to support Tanzania’s Rufiji Dam
Egyptian Ministry of Electricity signalled the deep relations between Egypt and Tanzania, and Egypt’s keenness on supporting the construction of the Ru ji Dam.
e statement said that the Egyptian political and diplomatic leadership seeks to promote relations with Africa by prioritizing the continent’s goals, supporting it with the needed technical assistance, and developing human resources and capabilities based
on mutual interests to achieve a win-win situation.
e statement came following a visit by Tanzanian Minister of Electricity Medard Motogolo Kalemani and an escorting delegation to Egypt, where he met with his Egyptian counterpart Mohamed Shaker.
For his side, Minister Shaker presented Egypt’s capabilities in electricity and renewable energy sector, and measures taken to secure su cient electricity amid the challenges of the past period.
He also highlighted Egypt’s keenness to promote renewable energy projects, utilizing its natural resources of solar and wind energy. He further shed light on one of the major energy projects in southern Egypt, Aswan, which is Benban Solar Park, an under construction photovoltaic power station with a planned total capacity of 1650 MWp, which corresponds to an annual production of approximately 3.8 TWh.
Furthermore, the bilateral discussions tackled the updates of the construction of Stiegler’s Gorge Dam in Tanzania, which will have a capacity of 2,100 Megawatts, and is meant to boost Tanzanian economy. e dam can open the door for Egyptian companies to execute further projects in Tanzania or other African states.
“ e Egyptian electricity sector is committed to engaging with the Tanzanian counterpart to implement this important project through sharing technology, expertise and empowering the local participation in the execution process of the project,” said Minister Shaker.
e dam will be built by a coalition of e Arab Contractors Egyptian Company and
El Sewedy Electric at a cost of $3.6 billion. Stiegler’s Gorge Hydroelectric Power Station is expected to produce 5,920 GWh of power annually to ll the electricity and energy shortage in the country.
RENEWABLES
SA to present revised IRP next week
ere is no need for competing power technologies to go to war as the revised Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), SA’s energy blueprint, will make space for all, mineral resources and energy minister Gwede Mantashe has said.
Speaking at the Windaba 2019 annual conference in Cape Town, Mantashe said
the plan would be taken to the cabinet next week Wednesday. If it goes through, it will be gazetted and “there will be certainty”.
e long-awaited plan has been a matter
of erce debate. In the last publicly available dra version, the least-cost model favoured only wind, solar and gas in the mix, but policy interventions ensured that a great deal of coal- red power generation remains in the IRP, which projects power supply up to 2050.
Mantashe said the country was committed to a sustainable energy mix that is modular and which it can a ord.
Under the government’s renewable energy independent power producers (IPP)
procurement programme, green power now comprises 4.5% of SA’s energy supply.
While more green power is committed to in the IRP, Mantashe warned that the renewable power industry has to make a contribution to SA in terms of ownership and manufacturing — otherwise “there is an inherent problem”.
Although accused of being a coal fundamentalist for previous comments about SA’s coal industry being under siege, Mantashe told delegates on Tuesday that he was rather
“a fundamentalist about security of energy supply”. Abandoning coal power outright
will see South Africans “breathe fresh air in darkness”, Mantashe said.
SA remains African wind leader
Southern Africa is moving towards becoming a top global wind energy destination, with enabling factors including an exceptional resource and a growing recognition that wind power can help plug Africa’s energy gap, attract investment, foster economic growth and create jobs.
South Africa remains the continent’s wind powerhouse, but other countries are catching up fast, experts said during the country’s windpower conference, Windaba.
In terms of energy generation capacity, Africa’s energy mix is no longer con ned to oil, coal and gas.
According to estimates by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), the Southern African Development Community (SADC),
a region comprising 16 countries, alone has a wind energy potential of around 18 GW.
“ is is one-third of the region’s current power pool,” said Johan van den Berg, head of the Africa-EU Energy Partnership (AEEP) Secretariat. “ e East Coast of Africa, stretching from Northern Mozambique to Kenya, has a huge potential.”
Other wind energy hotspots include Mauritius, Zambia, Namibia, and Tanzania, added Ntombifuthi Ntuli, CEO of the South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA).
“Namibia’s National Integrated Resource Plan calls for 149 MW of wind energy to be developed by 2035,” she said. “Tanzania, in the meantime, has plans to develop four onshore wind energy projects with a total capacity of 550 MW. Recently the country announced a 300 MW wind farm of which construction will start soon.”
South Africa remains Africa’s top wind energy leader. Between its inception in 2011 and March 2019, the country’s Renewable
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Week 40 09•October•2019