Electricity + Control August 2015

COMMENT

Editor: Wendy Izgorsek

Design & Layout: Adél JvR Bothma

Advertising Managers: Helen Couvaras and Heidi Jandrell

A frica is a continent endowed with significant resources – many untapped. What is important is that they be tapped in a responsible manner. There is enormous potential in the continent’s energy space, part of which relates to well-known natural reserves of fossil fuels and substantial hydropower. In the larger scheme of things, the final solution to our energy requirements will be through a mix of various sources of energy. I believe that hydro and solar will play an important role in that mix, with a commitment to smart use, smart management and smart control. We cannot lose sight of the fact the 93 % of our hydropower is untapped, and that we have the highest solar radiation of all the continents. We will certainly continue to burn coal for far longer than we should, and we are likely to see growth in nuclear generation as a critical component of the base load supply in future. Most importantly, we need to ensure that we are able to interconnect our grids effectively in order to make optimal use of our resources – an area that is likely to see massive investment in infrastructure and research ... and important because it is energy that will serve as the catalyst to economic growth. There is no doubt that logistics and communications infrastructure are critical – but the real opportunities will come from the availability of reliable energy and how remarkable it would be if a significant portion could be from sustainable sources. At the core of this is the need to build up a transmis- sion network that will allow dynamic growth and stable interconnection of the grids. The challenge is enormous. It is estimated that within the next decade in South Africa we will need to build more than 10 000 km of new transmission lines, and spend in excess R160 billion on energy infrastructure. Of that amount, less than R10 billion is for refurbishment – so we are speaking of new infrastructure.

need to do this if we are to maintain the industry we have and grow the economy at anything near the required levels. The continent is even more interesting: According to the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) it is anticipated that the energy needs of the continent will increase at around 6 % for the foreseeable future. This requires a growth in power generation capacity from the current 125 GW to 700 GW by 2040. The investment required for this is spectacular – in the order of tens of billions of dollars per annum, an investment that is crucial if we are to achieve the goals that we need to reach.

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Publisher : Karen Grant

EditorialTechnical Director: Ian Jandrell

Quarter 1 (Jan - Mar 2015) Total print circulation: 4737

My sense is that we will.

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Electricity+Control is supported by:

Ian Jandrell Pr Eng, BSc (Eng) GDE PhD, FSAIEE SMIEEE

These are not small numbers. The fact is that we

The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher, the editor, SAAEs, SAEE, CESA, IESSA or the Copper Development Association Africa

August ‘15 Electricity+Control

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