Sparks Electrical News August 2021

ENERGY EFFICIENCY

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Progress and positivity on solar PV local manufacturing T he South African Photovoltaic Industry Association (SAPVIA) has welcomed the investment decision by Italian-based firm Ener- tronica Santerno to expand their manufacturing activities in South

fully realise the capacity requirements of the South African market, both currently and in future procurement rounds. This, to enable the country to realise the full economic and industrialisation potential of the uptake of RE. “Following the extended pause in government procurement of clean, affordable RE generation infrastructure through the REIPPPPP, we are starting to see confidence growing among industry members who now feel ready to invest in local manufacturing. “After a period of decline, where investors felt hesitant to move forward with local manufacturing due to the lack of certainty from government, we are now seeing the green shoots of a South African RE manufacturing sector. With this confidence, we hope to see additional investment, local job creation and, of course, upskilling of local workers. “We cannot afford to let this opportunity pass and we look forward to working with government to deliver not only on our energy needs through sustained and consistent procurement of renewable energy, but also on job creation and sustainable employment through a commitment to lo- calisation. “SAPVIA welcomes this positive investment from our member, Ener- tronica Santerno, and we look forward to working with them and support- ing their future success in the South African market.”

South Africa realising the full, transformational potential of its solar PV market. Localisation, upskilling and a focus on ensuring true South Af- rican participation across the value chain are vital if we are all to benefit from the full rewards of the REIPPPP.” According to Luigi Guerra, country manager of Enertronica Santerno, “the group has already successfully implemented manufacturing activi- ties in the RSA in various sectors associated with renewable energies. In 2013, in fact, a production plant was built (and then successfully dis- mantled) for the manufacturing of supporting structures for photovoltaic panels which supplied steel works for around 400 MW of panels. “Subsequently, inverter-based power stations for a total capacity of around 600 MW were locally built with a 58% local content, making En- ertronica Santerno one of the leading local producers in South Africa in its own market sector.” Govender emphasised that government must continue to act in the interest of South Africans.” We await confirmation from the DMRE and DTICthat legislation will be implemented to ensure that projects are able to meet the localisation requirements for Bid Window 5 of the REIPPPP. We need certainty, sustained procurement and a consistent approach to developing the local manufacturing market segment. “SAPVIA will continue to engage actively with our members to ensure that we are proactively seeking to attract additional investment, both for- eign and local, to drive local manufacturing capabilities, so that we can

Africa. SAPVIA is the industry body representing solar PV in South Africa. The Italian firm, which has been an active player in South Africa over the past 10 years, will be investing up to R17 million to enhance the ca- pability of manufacturing inverters for solar photovoltaic applications, including storage solutions, with a maximum initial production capacity of more than 500 MW per year, gradually ramping up to higher capacity targets. The inverters will achieve a designated local content value higher than 40%, therefore exceeding the minimum requirements for public procure- ment. Activities to practically implement the plan are already in place a will be finalised in the next five months. Welcoming the news, Niveshen Govender, SAPVIA COO, said, “This significant investment shows the massive potential for the solar PV mar- ket here in South Africa. The fact that we are attracting international in- vestors shows the viability of our renewable energy sector both in terms of financial return as well as the capability of our workforce to deliver best-in-class manufacturing. “Post Covid, we will require foreign and local investment to drive the economic recovery and transform our energy infrastructure to meet current and future requirements. This investment will also contribute to By Caspar Herzberg, president, Middle East and Africa, Schneider Electric S outh Africa has long dominated Africa’s growth charts and I believe that we have the potential to be the fastest growing economy on the continent again. There is one issue that we must address, and that’s the issue of electricity. Simply put, South Africa must fix its power shortages and reduce load shedding to zero. To do this, we must talk about deregulation and technology. I had the pleasure of speaking about this issue recently on a session organised by the Renewable Energy Solu- tions For Africa Foundation. South Africa has long been a beacon for developmental progress throughout the region’s economy, and the country has an opportunity to lead again in this age of renewable energy solutions. Although South Africa was one of the pioneers of the renewable energy programme in Africa (2007), the real- ity is that it is still off the pace when it comes to incor- poration of renewable energy in its overall energy mix. Much of the country’s energy is derived from coal-fired power plants (>86%). Coal was once one of the cheap- est sources of power, but those days are long gone. Now, renewables are the cheapest source of power on the planet. And they are quicker and cheaper to scale up. Why are we struggling to do this? There are two chal- lenges. The first is the issue of who controls the power network. Eskom owns most of the generation and trans- mission assets. In 1998, South Africa was the first sub- Saharan African country to come up with the idea of pri- vatisation; however, this has proved controversial. What has changed are cost and supply – South Af- rica has moved from inexpensive to expensive electric- ity in recent years. It is estimated that, since the events of 2008, the average electricity tariff increase in South Africa has been around 300%. And electricity tariffs will continue to increase in the future at a higher rate, which is unsustainable in the long run. At the same time, there’s not enough power to meet the needs of South Africa’s people and businesses. The introduction of a deregulated electricity market could induce more competitive prices as proven in other countries with a particular focus on renewable energy integration. This is especially important. The country faces a major shortage in power generation, with load shedding expected to continue for the coming five years. For an economy the size of South Africa’s, we can and will do better. Deregulation has always been a big talking point for South Africa’s energy sector, but we are seeing more political impetus to change the status quo. Last year President Cyril Ramaphosa set up a presi- dential task team to explore the best ways to address the two big issues of power generation and energy debts. One recommendation may be to come up with an inde- pendent company to manage the national grid. Another may be to deregulate energy distribution. These suggestions would be a fascinating step, as they would allow for the opening up of the energy sector to new, independent power providers. The political will is there, and there is a realisation that renewables are the solution to

Enquiries: www.sapvia.co.za

Deregulation and technology will fulfil South Africa’s power needs

Coalition brings solar power to one of Africa's oldest national parks GivePower Foundation , a non-profit or- ganisation committed to extending the environmental and social benefits of clean, renewable energy around the globe, has completed three solar projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in partnership with Nuru, a Congolese re- newable energy utility. The installations, designed to help protect endangered wildlife and support children historically affected by violence, were made possible by Congo Power, an initiative backed by Google, and by Silfab Solar, which gener- ously donated equipment. "The work we are doing with our part- ners in the Democratic Republic of Congo is both immensely challenging and in- credibly meaningful," said Hayes Barnard, founder and chairman of GivePower. "The DRC is rich in resources that have fueled conflict and instability for decades, while access to electricity remains scarce. Through our collaboration with Congo Power, Google and Silfab Solar, we will col- lectively unlock new opportunities to scale community-led clean energy solutions." Two communities surrounding the Ga- ramba National Park,where armed con- flicts and instability in past decades have led to an increase in poaching, now have solar mini grids that will bring reliable and clean power to the area. The mini grids, which were built and are operated by Nuru, were largely funded by the Eu- ropean Union through its partner African Parks Network, a not-for-profit organiza- tion working to revitalize conservation areas that are currently under threat. With access to stable and affordable electric- ity the communities of Tadu and Faradje are less reliant on extracting resources from the park and have a greater ability to generate sustainable livelihoods that don't degrade the surrounding natural environment. Additional financial support included the forward purchase by Google of Peace Re- newable Energy Credits (P-RECs), an inno- vative financing instrument developed by Energy Peace Partners (EPP) to help fund high impact renewable energy projects .

South Africa’s energy needs. The latest renewable plants produce electricity at a cost lower than would be the case from new coal or nuclear power stations, which have been the preferred choice for a long time. Let us now talk about the grid itself. The majority of our existing electric grids are decades old and were built when electricity needs were simple. Our current grids are not designed for today’s requirements, let alone our fu- ture needs. And they also incur major cost. Globally, transmission and distribution losses amount to $200-billion (US) per year. In Europe alone, annual electric distribution losses represent €5-billion in waste. In South Africa, Eskom and municipalities lose close to R20-billion every year. The ever changing and rising en- ergy demands of the 21st century necessitate moderni- sation in our electric grids. This is especially true in South Africa. A smart grid is an intelligent, digitised energy net- work that delivers energy in an optimal way, from source to consumption. Smart grids integrate information, tel- ecommunication and power technologies with the exist- ing electricity system. It introduces a two-way dialogue where electricity and information can be exchanged be- tween a utility and its customers. Smart grids are more efficient, more reliable, more secure and greener. There are three key reasons why this matters. Today, when power lines break or power plants cannot produce enough power, black-outs occur and that is a problem. At the same time, today’s grids often rely on a single power source and do not provide detailed information on usage, making it difficult to manage. A smart grid is far more re- sponsive to ever-changing environmental and load con- ditions. The amount of data generated and aggregated will be used to make the grid more reliable, optimise its efficiency and speed up the shift toward renewable en- ergy transition. In effect, this is digitalisation at its best, which will support the other two big electricity trends – population growth and decarbonisation. Smart grids encourage the growth of renewable energy by using solutions like Distributed Energy Re- sources. The smart grid enables newer technologies to be integrated such as wind and solar. Power generation can now be distributed across multiple sources, so the system is more stable and efficient. Second, smart grids empower consumers and businesses with real-time in- formation on their energy usage, allowing them to un- derstand how they are using energy and which is going to spur behavioural change (research shows that when consumers and businesses know exactly how much energy they consume, they’re likely to look for ways to reduce their energy use). Third, the technology behind smart grids helps utility companies to reduce power surges and outages. One ex- ample of this is the self-healing grid we have developed with Stedin, one of the largest utilities in the Netherlands, for a self-healing grid solution in downtown Rotterdam. A blackout caused by a broken cable was resolved in 18 seconds thanks to the network automatically reconfig-

Caspar Herzberg, president, Middle East and Africa, Schneider Electric

uring itself to resupply affected customers via another path. It could have taken hours to fix this fault if we were talking about a traditional grid. Given South Africa’s growth, we must make use of the time we have now to transform the energy sector and realise a green recovery. South Africa’s population is expected to grow by ten million by 2030, up from the current 60-million today. And many more people will be living in South Africa’s cities. South Africa’s population is expected to increase by about 27% by 2050 and to be- come increasingly more urbanised – four out of every five people will be living in South Africa’s cities by 2050. When you combine this with the government’s ambitious National Development Plan that aims to eliminate pov- erty and reduce inequality by 2030, it is obvious that we have to future-proof the country’s electricity supply. If we are going to keep pace with the demand for electricity, it must be through digital transformation. And that means smart grids and deregulation. There is another reason why we need change. This is the year of COP26, when countries are being urged to do more on carbon emission reduction. South Africa is proposing to deepen its emissions cuts by almost a third in 2030, according to a draft climate plan published this year. Under this plan, South Africa will cut emissions by 28%, compared with its 2015 pledge. This plan relies on “a very ambitious power sector investment plan” and the implementation of a green transport strategy, energy ef- ficiency programmes and a carbon tax to meet the goal. But we believe the country can do much more – 86% of the country’s electricity in 2020 was generated by coal, making South Africa the most coal-reliant among G20 economies. There’s hunger to invest in renewables, and South Africa has everything needed to generate all the power it needs from solar, wind and other renewable sources. South Africa must seize this opportunity to stimu- late investment in renewable energy solutions through de- regulation and technology upgrades. What we need is the courage of our convictions to make this happen, to realise a brighter, cleaner future for all South Africans.

Enquiries: www.se.com

Enquiries: www.givepower.org

SPARKS ELECTRICAL NEWS

AUGUST 2021