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Vodacom SA awarded 5-Star Green Star certification
Published: 29 Mar 24
Telecommunications group Vodacom South Africa has been awarded 5-Star existing building performance (EPB) certifications for two of its buildings, Vodacom’s Business Park and Corporate Park, at its Midrand headquarters. The Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) accreditations, signifying excellence in sustainable building operations and management, follows Vodacom’s long-standing, responsible business practices efforts over a sustained period.
Cape Town tables R76.4bn budget; infrastructure spending at R12.1bn
Published: 28 Mar 24
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has tabled a R76.4-billion draft budget for the city for the 2024/25 financial year. The budget proposes record infrastructure investment of R12.1-billion for the year, and nearly R40-billion over the next three years.
More green hydrogen insight on way as Southern African scientists head to Germany Has Video
Published: 28 Mar 24
Twelve scientists from Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries will head to Germany in May, where they will have an opportunity to obtain more in-depth insight into green hydrogen amid the region’s unveiling of important green hydrogen projects, pilot plant initiatives and the awarding of a large number of green hydrogen scholarships. Highlighting this week during the Sasscal-organised two-day Green Hydrogen Symposium in Namibia was Sasscal executive director Dr Jane Olwoch, who emphasised to Engineering News & Mining Weekly in a Zoom interview that “the countries of Southern Africa should first and foremost take note of the region’s advantages of participating in the green hydrogen economy.” (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)
Experts propose private solutions to better capacitate municipalities for effective water management Has Video
Published: 28 Mar 24
As South Africa starts to experience more extreme weather events, such as floods, droughts and high-energy storms, the sustainability of public water systems becomes crucial; however, municipal mismanagement or lack of maintenance is posing a major risk, a panel of experts agreed in a webinar hosted by Creamer Media on March 27. With the Blue Drop audit report finding that more than two-thirds of water treatment plants are close to failure, almost half of all treated water is lost through leaks and that only 26 of the country’s 958 water supply systems currently meet the Blue Drop certification level for high-quality water, solutions for climate resilient "water prosperity" becomes crucial.
Energy major gears up to roll out solar across retail sites as it marks South African centenary
Published: 28 Mar 24
Energy group bp Southern Africa (bpSA) has set the expansion of its service station network in South Africa as a key priority as it moves to mark its centenary in a country where it first began operating on May 9, 1924. Communications and external affairs head Hamlet Morule tells Engineering News that bpSA intends rolling out 15 new sites during 2024, with ten sites currently in development, followed by a further 11 in 2025.
DRDGOLD to determine economic viability of copper recovery from Copper 360’s tailings dams Has Video
Published: 27 Mar 24
Northern Cape copper company Copper 360 announced on Wednesday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with DRDGOLD’s Far West Gold Recoveries tailings retreatment subsidiary to conduct a due diligence on its copper tailings dams to assess their economic copper recovery viability. During the due diligence period, Far West Gold Recoveries will, through an independent expert, determine the total tonnage of tailings material by Lider survey applying a density of 1.4 tonnes per cubic metre.
Record yet uneven renewables growth recorded in 2023, Irena report shows
Published: 27 Mar 24
Despite record renewable-energy installations of 473 GW last year, the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) says the pace of deployment remains well below that needed to match the global goal of tripling capacity by 2030. In addition, the geographic distribution of new investment was highly uneven, with Africa lagging in particular. The ‘Renewable Capacity Statistics 2024’ report states that the installed renewables base climbed 13.9% to 3 870 GW in 2023, underpinned by solar photovoltaic (PV) installations, which surged by 32.2%, or 346 GW.
Solar Fire Risks
Published: 26 Mar 24
Six pressure points to consider when it comes to fire risks South Africa has seen a surge in the adoption of residential and commercial solar power generation, much of which can be attributed to the escalating challenges posed by increased load shedding as power utility, Eskom, struggles to meet the country’s demand for reliable electricity generation.
Solar PV body questions technology costs and build limits in draft IRP
Published: 26 Mar 24
The South African Photovoltaic Industry Association (SAPVIA) questions both the cost assumptions used for the technology in the draft Integrated Resource Plan 2023 (IRP 2023), as well as the 900 MW yearly build limit placed on distributed solar in its formal submission to the department. SAPVIA’s response, which was submitted ahead of the March 23 deadline for public comments, states that the technology cost assumptions for solar PV have been inaccurately estimated for Horizon 1 to 2030 (The draff IRP 2023 also includes Horizon 2 from 2030 to 2050).
US announces $6bn to clean up heavy manufacturing
Published: 26 Mar 24
The first new US aluminum smelter in 45 years may be built as part of about $6-billion in grants the Biden administration is awarding to companies in a bid to clean-up hard to decarbonise industries including metal, paper and glass. Century Aluminum Co., once a central beneficiary of former President Donald Trump’s trade war, is set to receive as much as $500-million in funding to build the facility, according to a statement Monday. That would double the size of the nation’s current domestic production of the energy-intensive metal while also reducing emissions by an estimated 75%.
 
 
 

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