Sparks Electrical News May 2020

ENERGY EFFICIENCY

9

Aurecon champions renewable energy projects in Africa

A ccording to Paul Nel, Energy Lead for Africa, about 70% of the utility-scale renewable ener- gy projects undertaken under the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement (REIPPP) programme in South Africa to date have seen the involvement of engineering, design, and ad- visory company Aurecon. The company is currently in the process of rebranding as Zutari, after officially an- nouncing the separation of the African business from the Aurecon Group, effective from 1 January 2020. With a strong engineering presence in both Cape Town and Pretoria, the energy division is divided into four business lines, namely generation, transmission and distribution, industrial energy solutions, and power system studies. This ensures fully-integrated solutions for its diverse customer base, which includes international and local project developers, institutional clients such as Zambian electricity utility ZESCO, and local government clients such as the City of Cape Town. In addition, Aurecon is also involved with regional initiatives such as the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) and, to a certain extent, the East African Power Pool (EAPP), where the main focus is on large interconnector projects. At present, it is undertaking projects in South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Malawi, Kenya, Mozambique, Madagascar, Ghana, Tanzania, and Nigeria. Apart from the large interconnector studies, the focus here is mainly hydroelectric and solar power, with some clients looking at wind energy in East Africa, for example. “We have really been involved across the board in terms of renewable energy projects in Africa, including hydro power. We have deep insight into what it takes to connect to the grid at the utility-scale level, but also have specific experience in smaller industrial-scale solar power projects specifically for industry. Here, hybrid solutions often provide the best energy mix, especially as battery-storage technology has not yet become cost-competitive SEW-EURODRIVE (Pty) Ltd. offers a range of trans- mission solutions to assist sugar millers, who depend on high plant availability for maximum input versus output, to cut costs. This, in addition to the company’s expertise – which is available locally 24/7 seven- days-a-week – make it the ideal transmission solu- tions partner to add value to the sugar industry. The main opportunity lies not only in upgrading old and outdated systems, but also in the value-add that SEW-EURODRIVE (Pty) Ltd. offers Independent Power Producers (IPPs) in the industry. Recently, Illovo Sugar MD Mamongae Mahlare was quoted in the Sunday Times as saying that IPPs provide “a critical lifeline” for the sugar industry, which is faced with constraints such as the sugar tax and falling prices for exports. Sugar millers produce their own power by burning cane fibre to generate additional power. Here the expertise of SEW-EURODRIVE (Pty) Ltd. in energy-efficient solutions is key. It can apply real-time power-saving solutions to produce the same performance from older equipment and applications. These energy-efficient transmission solutions potentially produce more output power or torque by drawing even less power from the grid. Applications for these mechanical and electrical transmission solutions include milling tandems, bagasse conveyors, juice agitators, clarifiers, crystallisers, sugar dryers, and many other production applications. A wide range of transmission solutions means there is a fit for every application. High ingress protection (IP rated), high IE3 efficiency classes, and the high thermal class ratings (H) of standard IEC motors from SEW-EURODRIVE (Pty) Ltd. assure sugar millers of high quality, cost effective electrical transmission solutions. Other real business investment solutions include the MIG high-torque energy-efficient mechanical drive system. This unit reads the output load

with more traditional solutions,” Nel explains. Africa, in particular, requires robust and durable solutions, which often means that clients prefer tried-and-tested technology rather than the latest cutting-edge innovations. Despite this, Aurecon remains up-to-date with the latest research and development (R&D) in order to assist the market as it matures. This has resulted in a steady advance from fixed-access solar energy to single- access tracking. “We are currently looking at supporting some clients with bifacial photovoltaic (PV) technologies on their projects,” Nel reveals. Aurecon has also been actively supporting some of its energy clients with advanced data analytics, cutting-edge drone-based construction monitoring and complex, bespoke, business decision support solutions. “I believe we currently offer some clients unique, digitally-advanced solutions that no one else in our space is doing. We are also actively looking at ways to increase our digital offering, helping our clients to remain relevant in this fast- changing digital world.” Nel points out that the need for both power and water on the continent is growing unabated, especially as a result of increasing urbanisation and, to some extent, industrialisation across Africa. This has allowed Aurecon to achieve significant traction in the energy market. “We are always keen to get involved with the difficult problems knowing that, through this, we not only bring tangible relief, but make a significant contribution to the socioeconomic development of Africa. We have strong institutional experience across the continent, but specifically in South Africa, that can assist our country in getting back on track in terms of its electricity needs,” Nel stresses. The main challenge facing South Africa is its fossil fuel-based energy mix that is heavily dependent on the mining industry for supplying coal and employment opportunities. “We are very continuously, and adjusts the required power needed to drive the application, in addition to saving energy. The Xe series allows for compact solutions to replace cumbersome systems and boost mechanical efficiency. Planetary transmission drive systems provide localised assembled solutions, and cut down on delivery lead times to benefit sugar millers even further. Local aggressive stockholding, finite ratios, technical experts, industry knowledge, around-the- clock operation, and purpose-driven employees adds value to clients’ businesses. When sugar- industry clients enter into a business partnership with SEW-EURODRIVE (Pty) Ltd., they add value to their investment to achieve the lowest cost of ownership.

REISA Kathu Solar PV, South Africa.

opportunities for the private sector,” Nel highlights. In terms of nuclear power, it is vital that options are considered to extend Koeberg’s operating life in order to ensure stability of the national grid, especially as this is the only base-load generation capacity in the entire Western Cape. New technology such as Pebble Bed Modular Reactors would likely still have a long development lead- time. Traditional nuclear generation solutions also remain very expensive and complex to develop, and hence Nel believes additional nuclear power will not be considered an option for South Africa’s energy mix in the foreseeable future.

dependent on the government to free up the power generation sector.” Here Nel points to the long- awaited Round 5 of the REIPPP programme. Transitioning from coal-based power to renewable energy is a long and complex journey, as witnessed by the government’s ongoing efforts to separate the transmission, distribution and generation business units of electricity utility Eskom. “This unbundling is a prerequisite for the freeing up of the electricity market. Eskom’s inevitable reorganisation will be a slow process. What we are ultimately hoping for is an independent system operator mandated to trade power between both private and public entities. This will also free up significant investment

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COVID-19 affects solar growth A s reported by U.S. magazine, The Electri- cal Contractor, in February 2020, energy research and consultancy, Wood Macken- zie, released two reports predicting high growth in solar markets in the 2020s, but the company is re-evaluating these positive predictions in light of COVID-19.

Adding value to IPPs in the sugar industry

in Southeast Asia, domestic U.S. production shut- down, international shipping and logistics delays and module bill of material shortage. In addition to these solar module supply risks, the report identified four potential project devel- opment risks: shipping delays resulting from the potential closing of U.S. ports, supply delays of pro- jects, travel delays that limit or delay project mile- stones, and site shutdowns due to shelter in place orders or on-site COVID-19 infections. “Solar manufacturers that have geographically diverse supply chains, and downstream players that have development pipelines in very early stage (or nearing completion), are the best posi- tioned to ride the tide, assuming COVID-19 disrup- tions subside by the end of the third quarter this year,” added the report.

One of the February reports suggested that so- lar would become cheaper and more efficient. The other called the 2020s the “decade of emerging solar PV markets” and stated that the talks at the UNFCCC’s 26th Conference of Parties held in the U.K., set to be held in November 2020, “will invari- ably lead to more action from financial institutions and investors to redirect capital towards zero-car- bon energy.” Most recently, however, Wood Mackenzie re- leased its newest report on solar specifically on U.S. utility-scale solar projects. The report stated, “The coronavirus pandemic is likely to have a material impact on utility-scale solar installations in the U.S. this year, and perhaps even into 2021.” In the report, “Coronavirus: U.S. Solar PV Supply Chain and Utility-Scale Market Risk,” Wood Mac- kenzie noted in a best-case scenario, the market could see up to four weeks of supply delays af- fecting a few hundred megawatts of modules and inverters. This, combined with construction disrup- tions, could translate into as much as 2-gigawatt (GW) dc of project development delays this year. “The worst-case scenario, which sees every step of the supply chain development come to a com- plete halt for several weeks, could see upwards of 5 GW dc of U.S. utility-scale market pushed back to the second half of this year and perhaps into 2021,” says Ravi Manghani, one of the report’s co-authors. The report identified four sources of solar mod- ule supply risk to U.S. utility-scale solar projects, all of which pose a threat to the pipeline in varying degrees. These are potential production shutdown

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SPARKS ELECTRICAL NEWS

MAY 2020