THE SOLAR SKYSCRAPER
NAVIGATING ENERGY STORAGE SOLUTIONS: A GUIDE FOR BUSINESS
Probe Corporation CEO FRANK ROVELLI offers insight on the right energy storage solution – lithium or graphene – for your business
As businesses in South Africa increasingly turn to hybrid solar solutions to remain operational during power outages, there is high demand for reliable and ef cient energy storage. However, with many options on the market, selecting and obtaining an optimal, reliable battery solution can be challenging. With its Probenergy division focused on alternative energy solutions, Probe Corporation leverages over 60 years of expertise to offer advanced battery solutions.
When considering high voltage systems, it’s important to understand both the type of battery technology available and the nancial return on investment that different technologies offer to select the right option for a business. Selecting the appropriate battery solution involves navigating several challenges, including performance, economic viability, safety, environmental impact and availability to ensure the chosen technology aligns with business needs. Choosing the right battery requires businesses to consider speci c application requirements carefully. Evaluating the expected lifespan and performance of the battery in speci c applications plays a signi cant role in the decision-making process. It is also crucial to ensure that the chosen battery technology integrates seamlessly with existing systems and infrastructure.
PERFORMANCE AND SAFETY
Lithium-based (LiFEPO4) and graphene-based batteries, also known as solid-state supercapacitor batteries, have emerged as leading contenders in response to the growing demand for more ef cient energy storage systems. While each technology presents unique advantages and challenges making
them suitable for different applications, lithium-based batteries remain a go-to solution for a wide range of applications due to their affordability, proven performance, wide availability and reliability. However, solid-state supercapacitor batteries now offer superior conductivity, much longer life cycles, higher energy density and enhanced safety features.
The charge/discharge rates on the solid-state supercapacitor battery are unparalleled. These batteries are also safer than lithium. They are more sustainable as they are carbon-based and recyclable, which lithium batteries are not.
ECONOMIC VIABILITY
Assessing the initial capital expenditure (Capex) versus the long-term return on investment (ROI) is vital for determining the economic viability of an energy storage solution. The initial Capex spend might be more palatable with lithium options due to their lower cost. However, solid-state supercapacitor batteries, while more expensive upfront, offer longer life cycles, reducing long-term costs. For instance, lithium batteries typically last 5–6 years, whereas graphene batteries can last up to 20 years if maintained correctly.
Calculating real ROI involves considering not just the upfront costs, but also the longevity, ef ciency and maintenance requirements of the batteries. While initial Capex spend may appear to be more palatable with lithium options due to their lower cost, when one considers the performance, round-trip ef ciency, life cycles, losses and degradation associated with both options, solid-state supercapacitor batteries are a more costeffective solution over time, and the initial premium is not as signi cant. However, due to budget constraints, many clients still opt for
lithium batteries and we ensure that we always have excellent options available.
AVAILABILITY
Businesses in South Africa face the additional challenge of the availability of particular solutions, as some solutions may not be available for several months. Probenergy has been working to ensure a steady supply of batteries to meet operational demands amid global supply chain disruptions, including embarking on local assembly with the Bluevolt range.
RECOMMENDED OPTIONS
Energy storage options provided by Probe include new Probe High Voltage (HV) lithium-ion batteries, MaxLi lithium batteries and Bluevolt lithium batteries. Probe has partnered with Enerbond to bring leading solid-state supercapacitor batteries to the market.
Choosing the right energy storage solution enhances operational ef ciency for sustainable growth. With expert advice, businesses can make informed decisions to optimise their energy storage investments.
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BRING ON THE BUDGet
Budgeting. It’s not fun (unless you have a pretty speci c mindset). However, budgeting has been on the minds of many South Africans of late, with the cost-of-living crisis only growing in magnitude, exacerbated by sky-high fuel costs and electricity price hikes that far outstrip in ation.
Businesses have another kind of budget to think about, too: their carbon budget. The recent signing of the long-awaited Climate Change Bill brings the importance of responsible business practices to the fore, but beyond that, it establishes a framework for all levels of government to implement climate change mitigation and adaptation measures,
with huge implications for our energy sector and the most polluting power company on the planet. It’s an impressive and exciting piece of legislation that we analyse on page 6.
Anthony Sharpe Editor
On page 11, we examine how one property investment company chose to squeeze its budget early on to save later by installing solar panels on the facade of a Johannesburg building. Finally, on page 12, we look at the factors in uencing the price of petrol – and whether or not South Africans can expect any further relief at the pumps.
6 INVESTMENT
South Africa’s Climate Change Act has nally been signed into law, but is it suf cient in scope and realistically enforceable?
10 FUELS
A look at the factors causing pain at the petrol pump and if there’s any relief on the horizon.
11 SOLAR
How installing solar panels on the facade of a skyscraper is helping to offset rising energy costs.
Copyright: Picasso Headline. No portion of this magazine may be reproduced in any form without written consent of the publisher. The publisher is not responsible for unsolicited material. Energy is published by Picasso Headline. The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of Picasso Headline. All advertisements/advertorials have been paid for and therefore do not carry any endorsement by the publisher.
ACTING AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
South Africa’s Climate Change Act has been a long time in the offing, but is it sufficient in scope and realistically enforceable, asks ANTHONY SHARPE
South Africans are blessed with a relatively forgiving climate, thousands of kilometres of stunning coastline and unimaginably vast and varied expanses of land. Unfortunately, they’re also not strangers to droughts, ooding and storm-related issues. The recent oods in the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape displaced thousands and caused widespread damage, often disproportionately affecting the poor – a pattern that plays out worldwide.
As a developing nation, South Africa is particularly vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change. The Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index, which ranks the climate adaptation performance of 185 countries, ranks South Africa as the 111th most vulnerable.
Although we’re small fry compared to economic giants such as the United States and China, South Africa is nevertheless the largest polluter on the continent, thanks in no small part to Eskom. Research by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air revealed that the power utility was the
largest single emitter of sulphur dioxide on the planet, eclipsing the total power sector emissions of any country barring India. It’s a staggering statistic, the result of coal lobbying, decades of underinvestment and poor maintenance, and ministerial stubbornness.
A FRAMEWORK FOR CLIMATE CHANGE RESPONSE
While South Africa has a long and complicated way to go, the Climate Change Act, signed into law on 23 July, is a promising legal and attitude-adjusting step in the right direction. Melanie Murcott, an associate professor of law at the University of Cape Town’s Institute of Marine & Environmental Law, says it’s useful to think of the act as a framework for government to put in place plans, strategies and responses to climate change.
CLIMATE CHANGE ACT 101
The key provisions of the Climate Change Act include:
• regulating climate change mitigation through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions;
• managing adaptation to climate change impacts such as flooding, drought, wildfires, excessive heat and water and food insecurity; and
• defining responsibilities for government departments at a national, provincial and local level, including municipalities.
Source: Centre for Environmental Rights
“What’s good about the act is that it asks all three spheres of government – national, provincial and local – to take climate action,” says Professor Murcott. “It includes quite detailed provisions for setting up institutions and others that require government at all levels to map, plan for and address adaptation needs, which means making people better able to cope with climate change. Then it speaks to putting in place funding to facilitate the creation and implementation of those measures.”
“WHAT’S GOOD ABOUT THE ACT IS THAT IT ASKS ALL THREE SPHERES OF GOVERNMENT – NATIONAL, PROVINCIAL AND LOCAL – TO TAKE CLIMATE ACTION.” – PROFESSOR MELANIE MURCOTT
Professor Melanie Murcott
Professor Murcott concedes that, as promising as the framework is, there are major implementation challenges. “The main one is that we see the implementation of laws, such as the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act, occurring in ways that will lock us into new fossil fuel developments that hinder the realistic chances of effectively implementing the Climate Change Act. If we are serious about achieving a low-carbon, climate-resilient and ecologically sustainable economy, which the act acknowledges is essential for poverty eradication, then we can’t blindly implement other laws that weren’t developed with climate change in mind.”
Professor Murcott does acknowledge, however, that the new act could stimulate new ways of thinking about the implementation of other laws, giving the example of the Carbon Tax Act. “That is meant to be one of our main measures aimed at incentivising reductions in the greenhouse gas emissions that are driving climate change, but some of the main polluters in the country have been given tax exemptions. It very much waters down the act as a mitigation measure if entities such as Sasol and Eskom, reportedly some of the worst polluters in the world, have been exempt from paying carbon tax.
“The Climate Change Act could act as a catalyst for better implementation of those existing acts, creating another lever for civil society to pull together to advance climate action. There are so many brilliant principles in the new act we could point to and say, these can’t be achieved if you implement the carbon tax in that manner, for example.”
MANAGING CARBON OUTPUT
Aside from establishing a strategic framework for climate change response, the act also puts in place two key tools to help us manage our carbon output. The rst of these is carbon budgets.
“The environment minister will publish a list of activities and emitters or emissions levels that will attract a carbon budget,” says Brandon Abdinor, climate advocacy lawyer at the Centre for Environmental Rights. “Small businesses and individuals are not going to be forced to submit a carbon budget, but large emitters will, which means they need to look at changing how they do things to be less emissions-intensive.” Abdinor says this will likely have knock-on effects in value chains, probably impacting the costs of certain goods and services.
The second tool for mitigation is sectoral emissions targets, explains Abdinor. “The theory here is that you take the remaining space in the carbon budget and divide it among different sectors, such as energy, mining and transport. This process is already underway and is subject to public participation because it’s like a negotiation between different sectors around who gets to emit what.”
Abdinor says the environment minister has oversight and the nal say, but needs to do this in consultation with those other ministries. “However, it’s been highlighted by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that this is quite a competitive political space. Usually, the environmental departments don’t have the same sort of clout as energy or minerals,
REMEMBER PARIS
Under the Paris Agreement, South Africa has committed to limiting annual greenhouse gas emissions to 398–510 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) by 2025, and to 350–420 MtCO2e by 2030. To contextualise that, Climate Action Tracker estimated our annual emissions at 480 MtCO2e in 2021.
Source: Climate Action Tracker
for example, so those large departments that are also responsible for most of the emissions can potentially negotiate their way to taking more of that carbon space.”
It’s not easy to decarbonise the energy sector, acknowledges Abdinor, but the technology is there in the form of renewables, which also make economic sense. “However, if you look at other sectors such as transport, agriculture or metals manufacturing, for example, these are much harder to abate from an emissions perspective. So, in a sense, one should be giving these sectors more breathing space and putting a lot of pressure on things like energy.”
Clearly, a lot of work needs to be done at every level of government, in civil society and in the courts to interpret, implement and enforce the Climate Change Act. We can only hope that this happens before we reach yet another tipping point.
Nevertheless, from a climate justice perspective, it’s not fair to expect a developing country such as South Africa to take the same level of steps as Western countries that have grown wealthy off previous emissions and colonisation, says Abdinor.
“At the same time, our Paris Agreement targets are adjusted for fair share. One hopes that at a global level, those historically accountable emitters will come to the party and fund the global decarbonisation effort, but we can’t hold our breaths for that. And we’re still a large emitter, so we certainly owe the rest of Africa a climate debt, just as the global North owes us a climate debt. Ultimately, we’re somewhere in the middle, and we shouldn’t let people get away with washing their hands on mitigation responsibility.”
THE PETROL PINCH
Can we hope for a return to the petrol prices of yore? asks ANTHONY SHARPE
of 95 in August was R23.11, while the BFP was around R12, so the cost of the dollar in rands accounts for roughly 50 per cent of fuel cost.” For this reason, says Baart, the fuel price is highly sensitive to ill-informed statements and actions by government that might impact the exchange rate. Conversely, comments viewed as positive by the investment community will positively impact the exchange rate, and thus the BFP. “That’s not accounting for the underlying asset, which varies according to what any world leaders have in mind this week.”
South Africans have faced growing pains at the pump in recent years, with the price of a litre of 95 petrol soaring from R14 (inland price) at the beginning of 2019 to an eye-watering R25.68 in October 2023, according to data from the AA.
There’s been some slight reprieve since then, with the price uctuating between R22.49 and R25.49 and a series of cuts since May. However, stubbornly high fuel costs are exacerbating South Africa’s collective cost-of-living crisis. When fuel prices go up, others follow, especially in a country such as ours where, thanks to the dire condition of our rail network, more than three-quarters of land freight is transported by road.
THE FUEL FACTORS
Several factors in uence the fuel price in South Africa, explains Kevin Baart, head of strategy at the Fuels Industry Association of South Africa (FIASA), formerly the South African Petroleum Industry Association, chief among which is the rand’s relation to the dollar.
“Retail fuel prices are anchored to the basic fuel price (BFP), 95 per cent of which is dollar related,” says Baart. “The inland retail price
TAXES AND LEVIES
While we understand we’re at the mercy of an unmerciful exchange rate, what’s made many South Africans irate is the other half of the fuel price that we’re paying, much of which goes into government’s pocket.
“If you look at the balance of the price of 95, R6.18 is government levies and taxes,” explains Baart. This comprises the general fuel levy (R3.96), the Road Accident Fund levy (R2.18) and customs and excise (R0.04). There’s also the petroleum products levy, a small levy to fund the operations of the National Energy Regulator of South Africa.
“If you want to reduce the fuel price, you’re looking at this R6.18,” says Baart. “The issue is that the general fuel levy (GFL) and the Road Accident Fund (RAF) levy contribute around R140-billion annually to the scus.”
In the 2023/24 nancial year, the GFL was the government’s fourth-largest revenue source, contributing 5 per cent of tax revenue or R93.4-billion. “If you want to take some of
FAST FACT
The Road Accident Fund, which is designed to provide compensation to the victims of road accidents in South Africa, took in R48.8-billion in 2022/23, yet recorded a R8.4-billion deficit.
Source: Parliamentary Monitoring Group
that away, the nance minister will obviously need to pull it back from somewhere.”
MANAGING THE MARGINS
Then there’s the Regulatory Accounting System (RAS), which provides for margins outside of re ning, ports and primary distribution, explains Baart. “That means wholesale margin, secondary storage and distribution and retail margin.”
He says there’s been much talk about how one could see a reduction of R0.80–R1 through a review of the RAS, but these are ill-informed. “We, as an industry, support a review of the RAS, but that possibly might increase those margins.”
By way of example, Baart says the retail margin is based on a benchmark service station. “This has X number of pumps under canopy, a convenience store and processes around 2.4 million litres annually. However, since that benchmark was established around 14 years ago, petrol consumption has dropped, largely due to the improved ef ciency of motor vehicles. So, petrol consumption is falling at around 2 per cent per annum, meaning that the turnover of the average service station has decreased.”
Regardless of its ultimate impact on consumers, a review of the RAS is due.
“The issue is that such a review costs money, and our understanding is there isn’t money available for it,” says Baart. “FIASA’s position is that in a price regulatory system, the authorities need to review the elements of that system regularly to ensure the supplier and the consumer are not hard done by.”
“RETAIL FUEL PRICES ARE ANCHORED TO THE BASIC FUEL PRICE, 95 PER CENT OF WHICH IS DOLLAR RELATED.” – KEVIN BAART
THE SOLAR SKYSCRAPER
South Africa’s first solar panel-clad skyscraper presents
a bold
new direction for businesses grappling with the cost of grid electricity, writes ANTHONY SHARPE
Most South Africans have gone months without load shedding, but we’re far from out of the woods yet. Consumers and businesses are facing a new sort of power crisis: the skyrocketing cost of electricity. According to PowerOptimal, the price of electricity has increased at 4.6 times the in ation rate over the past nearly two decades, kicking up a major gear in 2015. That means that the cost of business effectively mounts every year for Eskom customers.
A 2019 research paper, “Impact of occupants’ behaviour on energy consumption and corresponding strategies in of ce buildings”, found the average annual energy consumption of an open-plan of ce to be 76 kilowatt hours (kWh) per square metre. With the cost of grid electricity approaching R4/kWh, it’s clear how that can add up to a massive bill very quickly – just to keep the lights on.
TALL AND THIN
It’s a situation driving more and more organisations to install renewables, mostly solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, to reduce their reliance on the grid. This works particularly well for industrial and agricultural settings with lots of space, but of ce blocks have different constraints due to their shape, with a small rooftop space relative to the rest of the building. That’s unless you mount those solar
FAST FACT
The world’s largest building-integrated photovoltaic installation spans 665 000 square metres over 11 rooftops of a ceramics plant in China’s Jiangxi Province. It’s projected to supply 120 gigawatt hours of power annually, covering all the plant’s energy needs.
Source: Sungrow
panels all over the building structure, which is exactly what property investment company Fairvest Limited asked Energy Partners to do with the Metalbox skyscraper in Auckland Park, says Energy Partners CEO Manie de Waal. Standing 80 metres tall, the building is clad in solar PV panels that can generate up to 300 megawatts per year, making it the rst building-integrated PV project in South Africa.
“We told Fairvest it would be way more expensive than a normal system and hadn’t been done in South Africa before, but we were willing to explore the possibilities,” says de Waal.
The capital outlay for the project was roughly three times that of a conventional rooftop system, says de Waal, but shifts in costs mean this will be offset faster. “This project would have been impossible three
“THIS PROJECT WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE THREE YEARS AGO, BUT WITH GRID ELECTRICITY COSTS RISING AND SOLAR COSTS FALLING, THIS SORT OF THING HAS BECOME FINANCIALLY FEASIBLE.” – MANIE DE WAAL
Energy consumption and strategies in office buildings
READ MORE
years ago, but with grid electricity costs rising and solar costs falling, this sort of thing has become nancially feasible.
“It’s got a payback of eight to nine years, roughly what a conventional solar system had when the industry took off in 2014.”
MOUNTING DIFFICULTIES
It took Energy Partners almost three years to plan the installation and work through the structural issues. The greatest complication facing the team was the mounting structure. “We had to gure out how to design and construct a mounting structure that would be safe for the next 25 years, given wind and other environmental conditions,” explains de Waal. “The panels are just panels you could mount on a at roof. Inverters are inverters. But in this case, we needed to make different plans for cable management. We needed to consider things, such as glare, rain and wind load – quite different from panels mounted a few centimetres off a roof.”
From a technical perspective, the team aimed for minimal maintenance, says de Waal. “You want to minimise the number of times you go up and down the building. You maintain the panels the same way you would clean building windows, and it’s very seasonal – in Gauteng you need to do less cleaning because of the summer rainfall.”
THE FUTURE
As the rst of its kind in the country, Metalbox represents a breakthrough for sustainable of ce buildings in South Africa.
“Sustainability is becoming a key consideration for modern of ce buildings, both for businesses and employees,” says de Waal. “If you can generate a signi cant portion of your required energy requirements, previously impossible with of ce buildings, then you unlock a whole new way of looking at green building design. For hotels and of ces wanting to be sustainable, this is an incredible option.”
