French multinational energy group TotalEnergies was committed to the energy transition and has a strategy for this, highlighted the group’s MD and CEO marketing and services and country chair and executive VP: Southern Africa Mariam Kane-Garcia on Tuesday. She was addressing a session of the African Refiners and Distributors Association 2024 conference, in Cape Town. The TotalEnergies transition strategy had two pillars, she pointed out. The first was ‘more energy, less emissions’, with fossil fuels. “We are not giving away our core business, which is oil and gas,” she noted. The second was the development of its low-carbon ‘Integrated Power’ business, which involved the deployment of renewable energy.

The Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) has installed and commissioned a combined equivalent of six independent microgrid power plants through the installation of rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery storage at 27 prioritised health institutions across the province. The total combined capacity of these solar installations amounts to 6.3 MWh, while the combined battery storage component adds up to a total of 15.6 MWh. These have been installed at 11 public hospitals, nine primary health care clinics, and eight community healthcare centres throughout the province. A twenty-eighth facility will be integrated next month.

Diversified mining company Anglo American is taking steps to help to restore an Amazon rainforest equivalent of which less than 10% remains intact. The Mata Atlántica carbon forest is located near Anglo’s Minas-Rio iron-ore mine, in Brazil.

Flourishing activity in the electric vehicle, power infrastructure, AI and automation sectors will lead to at least 10-million metric tons of additional copper consumption over the next decade, commodity trader Trafigura told Reuters. Technological developments such as artificial intelligence and automation, and the energy transition, which includes electric vehicles and renewable energy, have already driven up demand prospects for copper cable used to conduct electricity.

The seventh yearly WindAc Africa conference, organised by the South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA), is drawing near. It will take place from October 1 to 3 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), running concurrently with the Windaba Conference and Exhibition.

A consortium led by Nelson Mandela University and boutique consultancy firm Ikigai Group has won a UK Government grant under the South Africa-UK Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions (Pact) programme to deliver an innovative feasibility study to explore the viability of green hydrogen production and export infrastructure from the Eastern Cape to global markets, including the UK, Europe and Japan. The consortium will be working with the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC) in support of South Africa’s wider development and just energy transition plans.

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa describes surplus electricity arising from existing renewable energy facilities as “low hanging fruit” in improving the supply-demand balance and reports that discussions are under way to assess ways to make this energy available to the grid. Speaking during a regular update on the Energy Action Plan, Ramokgopa confirmed that the issue, which had been under consideration for years, had again been raised with him by the leadership of Scatec during his recent visit to the group’s Kenhardt solar-battery facility in the Northern Cape.

Energy solutions company Kili Energy is spearheading a large-scale initiative, the Kili Energy Clean Energy Democratisation Project, to provide smart liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) canisters and stoves, smart solar systems and novel hydrogen-powered stoves to 3.51-million indigent households in eThekwini, Tshwane, Cape Town, Johannesburg, the OR Tambo district municipality and Nelson Mandela Bay. The aim of the project is to provide energy liberation for townships and other indigent households, while simultaneously contributing to the decarbonisation of the country’s electricity supply.

The Utilities for Net Zero Alliance (Uneza) has adopted a roadmap to 2030, targeting a total increase of renewable energy capacity within their portfolios to 749 GW by 2030, an increase of 2.5 times relative to 2023. The alliance members’ joint renewables ambition was announced this week alongside a grid infrastructure action plan.

Proconics' expertise aligns with national projects and is poised to contribute to Eskom’s Transmission Development Plan. Engineering Firm Proconics was among the 14 companies that joined the Eskom Transmission Owner’s Engineer (OE) Panel at a recent signing ceremony event held at Eskom headquarters in Megawatt Park.