Page 16 - AfrElec Week 40 2021

AfrElec NEWS IN BRIEF AfrElec

at Ras Ghareb Wind Energy: “The committed
support from the local team from Hitachi
ABB Power Grids during and after the
substation project execution in combination
with a high technical competence and
capacity to squeeze the project timetable in
support of the energising schedule has been
of outmost importance and encouraged us
to sign a service agreement contract with
Hitachi ABB Power Grids for the substation
and balance of plant (BoP) maintenance and
troubleshooting.”
HYDRO

HYDRO

Thyssenkrupp to investigate
underground pumped

debt restructuring and a formal plan for WIND storage in South Africa
the delivery of the annual US$100 billion
in climate finance for developing countries Maintenance aims to Thyssenkrupp Uhde South Africa, a unit of
pledged by more developed nations at COP21 industrial conglomerate Thyssenkrupp, and
in Paris six years ago. optimise wind farm mining remediation firm Wismut will carry
COP26 president Alok Sharma MP has out a pre-feasibility study for a ‘renewable
publicly stated the UK’s commitment to this performance in Egypt underground pumped hydroelectric energy
annual figure, stressing that the conference, storage’ (RUPHES) project at a depleted South
which was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic, Ras Ghareb Wind Energy has selected Hitachi African gold mine.
must be held in person “to ensure the voices ABB Power Grids to optimise operations at its The two German companies have also
of these countries are heard and acted on”. 262.5MW wind energy plant in Egypt. signed an agreement with Pumped Hydro
While the full annual $100bn commitment Hitachi ABB Power Grids will provide Storage Sweden, which is currently developing
is yet to be reached many governments of predictive maintenance for a 220/33kV grid a 2MW/8MWh underground pumped
developed counties, multilateral development connection to ensure peak performance at energy storage project in an abandoned iron
banks (MDBs) and private sector investors, Egypt’s largest wind farm power project. mine in Aland, Finland with the support of
including those based in the UK, are already The services are expected to help reduce the the European Commission and the Swedish
investing in ‘green’ projects on the continent. risk of failure, extend asset life and lower Energy Agency.
Ahead of anticipated announcements of new the operational costs for the wind farm. RUPHES in old mines, coupled with
and recommitted funding at COP26, we look The services include spare parts supply, solar and wind power, can reliably provide
at the scale of the investment needed – and preventative maintenance, 24/7 response and green energy when it is needed, while
areas in which responsible investors should be remote support, and training. repurposing depleted gold mines enables
seeking to get involved. To offer real-time operation and short construction schedules and significantly
The CVF manifesto is the latest expression maintenance of the plant, Hitachi ABB Power reduced costs.
by those in climate vulnerable countries of Grids will use data acquired from intelligent “The main reason: Gold mining has
their needs ahead of COP26, and is consistent switchgear and existing plant monitoring and already created the underground water storage
with public statements to date. control systems. reservoirs that commonly are the mostly
In May, the Allied for Climate As Ghareb Wind Energy is a joint venture costly components of pumped hydro plants.
Transformation by 2025 (ACT2025) between ENGIE, Toyota Tsusho Corporation, They just have to be adapted to their new
consortium, which includes local and global Orascom Construction and Eurus Energy purpose,” Thyssenkrupp said in a statement.
organisations based in Africa, Asia, the Holdings. The Ras Ghareb power plant Pumped hydro accounts for 97% of global
Caribbean and Latin America, published five produces electricity to power 500,000 power storage capacity, the company said, but
outcomes it would like to see from COP26. households with its 125 wind turbines. The nearly all of that today is above ground.
Under the United Nations Framework Egypt wind plant was commissioned in 2019
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to boost energy security and is a first step to
countries are classified as ‘industrialised’, the switch to renewables in Ras Ghareb and
‘economies in transition’ and least-developed the whole of Egypt.
countries (LDC). The 49 LDCs, which include To meet growing energy demand whilst
33 countries in Africa, are given special status ensuring the decarbonisation of power
under the treaty, given their limited capacity generation, Egypt has set a target to deploy
to adapt to the effects of climate change. 7GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022.
PINSENT MASONS Sameh Al Alfy, Wind Farm O&M Director

P16 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 40 07•October•2021