RENEWABLE ENERGY
Developing a hybrid energy model For all those nations with abundant coal reserves, fossil fuels will remain a key source of electricity. In parallel, though, is the inevitable shift to renewable alternatives that help to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, says Thinus van As, function manager: Power and Energy, SMEC South Africa. By Alastair Currie
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he transition to alternative energy has been on the cards for decades, and it starts with implementable solutions that lower the lethal carbon dioxide emissions that threaten earth’s longer-term sustainability. In the immediate future, examples include the UK’s plan to end the sale of new petrol- and diesel-driven vehicles by 2030. “It’s a parallel transition to a greener future that holds exciting possibilities for how the power mix will unfold,” says Van As. “At SMEC, we’re working with private and public sector stakeholders to develop practical models,
Droogfontein 2 solar PV array
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IMIESA May 2021
for either end users or independent power producers (IPPs).” South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) first launched in 2011 (Window 1). Local and international teams responded with enthusiasm, executing landmark wind, concentrated solar power, and solar photovoltaic (PV) power projects, many of which, at the time, were the largest globally. Examples include the 75 MW Kathu Solar Park in the Northern Cape, and the 138.6 MW Cookhouse Wind Farm in the Eastern Cape. Through successive REIPPPP stages, South Africa has now moved
Thinus van As, function manager: Power and Energy, SMEC South Africa
to the preparation stages for Window 5. Interested bidders can submit bids ahead of the 16 August 2021 deadline set by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE). Allied to this is the DMRE’s Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP), where the list of preferred bidders was announced in March 2021. The objective of the RMIPPPP is to add 2 000 MW to the national grid by June 2022, taking some of the pressure off Eskom as it restructures and repositions itself.
A mindset shift “There’s been a definite shift in mindset when it comes to renewables since 2011. Then, for example, remote mines that operated off the grid automatically factored in diesel generation
