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			<title>Africa’s total investment into renewable power is expected to reach US$57.72 billion by 2020 from just US$3.6 billion in 2010</title>
			<link>http://www.solartotal.co.za/press-media/news/africas-total-investment-into-renewable-power-is-expected-to-reach-us5772-billion-by-2020-from-just-us36-billion-in-2010/</link>
			<guid>http://www.solartotal.co.za/press-media/news/africas-total-investment-into-renewable-power-is-expected-to-reach-us5772-billion-by-2020-from-just-us36-billion-in-2010/</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[The total investment into renewable power in Africa is expected to reach US$57.72 billion by 2020 from just US$3.6 billion in 2010, growth consultancy Frost &amp; Sullivan said on Wednesday.“The key growth sectors will be wind power, solar power, geothermal power and foreign direct investment (FDI) into energy &amp; power infrastructure,” said Frost &amp; Sullivan energy &amp; power systems industry analyst Ross Bruton.The consultancy believes development of the renewable energy sector in Africa will lead to a diversification of the generation mix, a decreased dependency on a singular feedstock and greater security of supply.According to a new study by Frost &amp; Sullivan, which will be released next week, although Africa is endowed with fossil and renewable energy resources - which could more than adequately cover its energy needs - the continent remained the most poorly electrified continent in the world.The proportion of people without electricity in Africa is higher than anywhere else on the planet, with as little as 5% of the population having direct access to electricity in some countries.“This significant challenge does, however, have a massive potential upside. The need to provide electrification to remote communities is one of the key drivers of renewable energy development on the continent,” Frost &amp; Sullivan noted.New investments into the continent’s electricity infrastructure are also likely to incorporate new technologies and standards.This requirement for smart technologies will mean that ICT development will also need to take place alongside electrification efforts.“Smart electricity development in Africa will be driven through grid incorporation of renewable power, and technological leapfrogging through investments into greenfield T&amp;D infrastructure projects,” Bruton said.“Smart grids are, however, only expected to play a significant role in key high growth African economies,” he added.Over the next ten years, renewable energy initiatives will be dominated by wind power projects, such as the Ashegoda Wind Farm in Ethiopia and Tanzania’s Singida Wind Farm.Solar power will also show good growth; although this will most likely be through SA’s Upington solar project and renewed interest in Desertec in north Africa. - I-Net Bridge]]></description>
			<pubDate>Wed, 17 Aug 2011 09:44:09 +0000</pubDate>
			<source url="http://www.solartotal.co.za/press-media/news/">AFP</source>
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			<title>South African DoE increased procurement to 3,725 MW rather than the 1,025 MW</title>
			<link>http://www.solartotal.co.za/press-media/news/south-african-doe-increased-procurement-to-3-725-mw-rather-than-the-1-025-mw/</link>
			<guid>http://www.solartotal.co.za/press-media/news/south-african-doe-increased-procurement-to-3-725-mw-rather-than-the-1-025-mw/</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[The South African government’s renewable energy independent power producer (IPP) tender process got off to a rocky start on Wednesday, when bidders were initially unable to access the bid documentation, owing to an information technology glitch.But the Department of Energy (DoE) also offered potential bidders something of a pleasant surprise by indicating that government will seek to procure 3 725 MW rather than the 1 025 MW indicated in the integrated resource plan (IRP) for the first procurement phase.The allocation to the various renewables technologies was also released, with 1 850 MW set aside for onshore wind, 200 MW for concentrated solar thermal, a further 1 450 MW for solar photovoltaic solutions, 12.5 MW for biomass and biogas respectively, 25 MW for landfill gas capacity, 75 MW for small hydro, and a further 100 MW for small-scale IPP projects of less than 5 MW.All told the capital investment associated with the programme is expected to be more than R100-billion, which would have to be pursued within timeframes specified in the request for proposals (RFP).However, because the contents of the RFP were not immediately accessible, Engineering News Online was unable to immediately confirm these timelines. This publication has also been unable to immediately gauge whether potential developers are pleased with the contents of the document, as well as with the terms of the associated power purchase agreement (PPA).But government has explained away the misalignment with the IRP by saying that the 3 725 MW is “broadly in accordance with the capacity allocated to renewable energy generation in IRP 2010-2030”.In fact, the document states that some 17 800 MW of renewables capacity should be deployed between 2010 and 2030, with wind and solar photovoltaic expected to deliver 8 400 MW of capacity each, and concentrated solar thermal a further 1 000 MW.DoE deputy director-general Ompi Aphane tells Engineering News Online that the enlarged procurement programme has been pursued to make the programme more attractive to those original equipment manufacturers considering localisation options.In fact, he says the process has been specifically designed so as to contribute towards socioeconomic and environmentally sustainable growth, as well as to “start and stimulate the renewable industry in South Africa”.Both the New Growth Path and the Industrial Policy Action Plan have placed so-called green industries at the very centre of South Africa plans to grow employment and to stimulate manufacturing investments and activities.Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies has revealed that government is engaging with a range of international funders to partner with South Africa in implementing its large-scale renewables programmes.Such funding will be used to offset any possible further spike in the electricity price path that could otherwise arise from the large-scale adoption of renewables. Further Davies says it could safeguard investments at the scale required to attract manufacturers of renewables technologies and components.Government has also made it clear that bidders will be required to bid a tariff, while meeting identified socioeconomic development objectives.In other words, the renewable energy feed-in tariff, or Refit, has been officially abandoned in favour of a two-stage selection process, involving both price and other selection criteria.The programme will still require a special dispensation to depart from government’s preferential procurement rules, which currently included a 90% weighting towards price and only a 10% weighting for other selection criteria.The DoE has also confirmed that the tariff will be payable by the buyer, which is expected to be power utility Eskom, in line with a PPA entered into between the buyer and the IPP.The DoE indicated that all bids should be accompanied by a “bid guarantee” equal to R100 000 for every megawatt of installed capacity proposed. Further, prior to accessing the RFP, prospective bidders would be required to make a nonrefundable payment of R15 000 and to complete a registration form, which was available for download at www.ipp-renewables.co.za.A mandatory bidders briefing session has been scheduled for September 14, at 10:00.]]></description>
			<pubDate>Wed, 03 Aug 2011 07:55:33 +0000</pubDate>
			<source url="http://www.solartotal.co.za/press-media/news/">Creamer Media</source>
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			<title>South African power company Eskom said Monday it will receive a $365-million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB)</title>
			<link>http://www.solartotal.co.za/press-media/news/south-african-power-company-eskom-said-monday-it-will-receive-a-365-million-loan-from-the-african-development-bank-afdb-/</link>
			<guid>http://www.solartotal.co.za/press-media/news/south-african-power-company-eskom-said-monday-it-will-receive-a-365-million-loan-from-the-african-development-bank-afdb-/</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[JOHANNESBURG - South African power company Eskom said Monday it will receive a $365-million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to implement its largest ever renewable energy projects.The loan will go towards financing the 100 megawatt wind project planned for the Western Cape and a 100 megawatt solar power project in the Northern Cape, chief executive Brian Dames said.“Eskom is committed to reducing its carbon footprint. This is an exciting time in the company’s history with its first large scale introduction of two critically important renewable energy projects (wind and concentrated solar power) in its fleet,” Dames said in a statement.“It further demonstrates South Africa’s commitment to transition to a cleaner energy mix,” he said.The firm derives most of its electricity from coal-fired power stations, with one nuclear plant outside Cape Town.Rolling power cuts in 2008 forced the state-owned entity to rethink its power generation strategies, as supply remains under pressure due to growing demand.In November 2010, Eskom received a loan of 15 billion rand ($2.2 billion) from the Development Bank of Southern Africa to fund new power projects.The company has received several other loans from various international institutions to support its expansion plans.]]></description>
			<pubDate>Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:16:46 +0000</pubDate>
			<source url="http://www.solartotal.co.za/press-media/news/">AFP</source>
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			<title>South Africa is a potential solar gold mine - Frost &amp; Sullivan</title>
			<link>http://www.solartotal.co.za/press-media/news/south-africa-is-a-potential-solar-gold-mine---frost-en-sullivan-/</link>
			<guid>http://www.solartotal.co.za/press-media/news/south-africa-is-a-potential-solar-gold-mine---frost-en-sullivan-/</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[SA is a potential solar gold mine, according to industry analysts Frost &amp; Sullivan (F&amp;S), who said on Monday that solar photovoltaic’s two biggest markets, Spain and Germany, were oversaturated and floundering.The plan allocated 8,400MW of solar photovoltaic to be built by 2030, rolling out 300MW a year of large-scale solar photovoltaic from 2012 onwards.F&amp;S pointed out that much hype surrounded the Upington Solar Park concept - a proposed 5,000MW cluster of solar farms to be developed like an industrial development zone on a corridor of available land in the Northern Cape. This region has the highest levels of solar radiation in the world, comparable only to the Atacama Desert of Chile.“The plan was met with scepticism initially, due to the massive scope of the project, and the fact that it was not mentioned in the draft form of the Integrated Resources Plan. The new Policy Adjusted Integrated Resources Plan, however, allows for 9.4GW of solar energy, more than encompassing the Upington Solar Park concept,” F&amp;S noted.Currently, solar photovoltaic in SA is limited to off-grid usages, such as telecommunications, game farms and isolated lodges, rural applications, navigational buoys, and other such applications. But more recently, companies have been using solar photovoltaic as a marketing tool to showcase their clean energy trends, and several municipalities have been experimenting with using solar photovoltaic for road signage, street lights and billboard illumination.“The off-grid market potential for solar photovoltaic is limited, however, and has been growing at a natural, organic rate for years, both globally and in SA. Globally, installed capacity of solar photovoltaic has exceeded 21GW, the majority of which is connected to the grid. The largest of these solar parks is 97MW; the Sarnia solar photovoltaic facility located in Canada takes up the land equivalent of approximately 470 soccer fields,” the analysts noted.“The question is whether solar photovoltaic is the right choice for SA? Global solar photovoltaic project developers are actively in pursuit of achieving an installed cost of US$1 a watt. Although prices are decreasing rapidly, due to learning rates, technology advances and a drop in silicon prices, at about US$3.80 a watt currently, there is still a way to go,” they said.F&amp;S added that, to ascertain solar photovoltaic’s justification as a technology of choice in SA’s energy mix, several questions had to be answered. One such question was related to land availability. Comparative land usage for solar photovoltaic indicated that 1,000MW of solar photovoltaic generation would require 11,000 acres of land.SA’s plan of installing 8,400MW of solar photovoltaic over the next 20 years would thus result in the allocation of 92,400 acres of land.Luckily, large tracts of land in the Northern Cape would be available to develop. This was also an area of great solar radiation, they noted.The plan to create an area large enough for 46,300 soccer fields would be the largest cluster of solar farms in the world to date, and would be visible from space.F&amp;S pointed out that the construction of these projects over the next 20 years would create a significant number of jobs.The Spanish solar photovoltaic market created 28,000 jobs between 2001 and 2010, to account for slightly more than 3,000MW of solar photovoltaic. For the South African market, this would be far exceeded.“8,400MW of solar photovoltaic, together with another 1,000MW of concentrated solar power technology, theoretically will provide in excess of 60,000 jobs. However, it is the spin-off aspect that is interesting. To create a cluster of solar parks in the Northern Cape will require infrastructure - roads and rail infrastructure, water, transmission grid access, and civil works construction.“The spin-off will likely result in indirect job creation for the influx of employees, and will contribute significantly to development in the region. 9,400MW of solar (solar photovoltaic and concentrated solar power) technology could create up to 100,000 jobs,” they said.They noted that SA was in a prime position to become a key global player in the solar photovoltaic market, amid rapidly decreasing prices of this technology.“Perhaps it is better that we are slightly behind more mature markets such as Spain and Germany - we can learn from their examples.“Currently, the policy framework in SA has been slow to get off the ground, frustrating industry players and investors by delaying timelines. Although the 8,400MW allocation have been decided, market players are still waiting for the final REFIT to be decided, as costs have changed since first proposed in 2009. Once the first private public partnerships are signed, however, the market will flood with activity. Although not as cheap as wind, solar photovoltaic has an advantage over other renewable technology in that it is modular, and thus relatively quick to install - approximately eight months for an 80MW facility, after permitting.“Once the legislative policy around independent power producers and the independent systems and market operator is finalised, solar photovoltaic industry players can start the process of rolling out 300MW a year from 2012, and the solar gold rush, which has burnt through Spain and Germany as well as the deserts of California and Nevada, will head to SA,” they concluded.]]></description>
			<pubDate>Mon, 16 May 2011 14:08:42 +0000</pubDate>
			<source url="http://www.solartotal.co.za/press-media/news/">I-NET Bridge</source>
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