The Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber is extremely disappointed with the increase awarded to Eskom, as it constitutes once again an unaffordable hike for businesses operating in Nelson Mandela Bay. This comes as the National Energy Regulator (NERSA) announced today that in analysis of Eskom's Regulatory Clearing Account (RCA) application for the first year of the third Multi-Year Price Determination (MYPD3) (2013/14), electricity tariffs will be increased by 9.4% for the 2016/17 financial … [Read more...] about Electricity consumers to pay additional R10 Billion
solar
The tipping point to grid defection in sight
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) will start its public hearings on Monday as part of Eskom's application to recover an additional R22.8bn through an electricity tariff increase. The Nersa public hearings will start in Cape Town and end in Midrand on 5 February. Nersa approves electricity tariff increases for Eskom based on a number of assumptions on factors such as electricity demand and cost of primary energy. Depending on how those assumptions pan out, Eskom is … [Read more...] about The tipping point to grid defection in sight
Solar Panel Fitting
The Million Solar Panel installation mark is passed. PiA Solar is the first African solar substructure company to obtain ISO 9001 quality certification for its manufacturing and installation processes. The company has been responsible for the installation of some 400 MW of solar installations since its inception in 2012, of which 260MW is on their locally designed and manufactured structures. The millionth panel was fitted by a PiA Solar team at SCDA3, a 90MWp Solar Capital solar farm … [Read more...] about Solar Panel Fitting
Port Elizabeth company is first in Africa to install one million solar panels
A Port Elizabeth company specialising in substructures for solar photovoltaic installations has become the first in Africa to mount a million solar panels – all completed in less than three years since the company was founded. The majority of the panels have been fitted to PiA Solar designed and manufactured substructures, according to Colin Muller, co-founder of PiA Solar. "This is a major company milestone and a celebration as to how renewable energy is overcoming the hurdle of power … [Read more...] about Port Elizabeth company is first in Africa to install one million solar panels
New benchmark for solar panel installation
A Port Elizabeth company has set a global benchmark by fitting 11 011 solar panels at a single site in a day. The panels will generate enough power for 920 average-sized three-bedroomed homes. The record was set by PiA Solar at SCDA3, a 90MWp Solar Capital solar farm located just outside De Aar in the Northern Cape. Established in 2012, PiA Solar has installed 400 MW of solar power over the past three years – 55 per cent of which (260 MW) has been placed on PiA Solar-designed and … [Read more...] about New benchmark for solar panel installation
Power and Water Crisis Spurs Eco-Building Demand
Soaring electricity prices, frequent load-shedding and crippling drought has seen a surge in green developments nationwide as landlords seek to ease their reliance on the strained and ailing national grid. Backing this trend is the sharp rise in eco-friendly buildings which have been green star certified by the Green Building Council of SA (GBCSA) - from four in 2010 to 56 during 2015 alone (January up to mid-October), bringing the total in the country to 121. The trend is spurred by … [Read more...] about Power and Water Crisis Spurs Eco-Building Demand
Eskom: No load shedding until May 2016
There likely will be no load shedding until at least May 2016, Eskom CEO Brian Molefe said on Wednesday. While maintenance on Eskom's ageing fleet has been increased, the power utility has managed to stave off implementing load shedding for more than 80 days. "We are doing all that maintenance without load shedding," Molefe said. "We will step up our maintenance in December as everyone goes on holiday. We will add quite a lot of units to the maintenance programme to catch up on … [Read more...] about Eskom: No load shedding until May 2016
Is load-shedding a good thing for the renewable energy industry?
Solar and renewable energy companies have now had a chance to evaluate the immense number of quotations and requests for proposals received from business and individuals during the last round of load-shedding by Eskom. At the time Eskom was the best salesman ever for the renewable energy industry. Frankly - load-shedding was not that good for business or for the sustainability of the renewable energy industry. Reason - the knee jerk panic reaction by consumers new to the solar industry saw … [Read more...] about Is load-shedding a good thing for the renewable energy industry?
PE company contributes to Nelson Mandela Bay’s Solar Leadership position
The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality is the only energy supply agency in the country that has a progressive rebate programme for solar and renewable energy. What puts us ahead of the rest of the country is that Nelson Mandela Bay allows business and individuals to run back their electicity meters, after installing renewable power, on a one for one basis. Effectively this allows consumers to zero their electricity bill. One can argue that the early adoption of this renewable rebate programme … [Read more...] about PE company contributes to Nelson Mandela Bay’s Solar Leadership position
How about a 100% write off in the first year of acquisition?
At present, through the Section 12B taxx Allowance, the tax authorities allow any registered business installing and owning a renewable energy installation - Solar PV, Wind, Hydro or Biomass - the ability to write off the entire cost against taxable income over three years in the ratio of 50%, 30% and 20%. The proposal is now, via Section 12E in the 2016 tax year, to allow a 100% write off in the first year for installations of 1 MW and less of renewable energy. This allowance is a … [Read more...] about How about a 100% write off in the first year of acquisition?
Power – Make your own
Consumers need to secure their own energy future and play a more proactive role in managing South Africa’s power shortage That was the word from Nelson Mandela Bay Chamber of Business Renewable Energy Task team member, Gareth Burley at the launch of the Power On Exhibition at 39 on Church Conference Centre in Walmer today. The Power On Expo at the Walmer Park Shopping Centre Underground Parkade on 8 and 9 August, will expose to the public more than 100 different power solutions and … [Read more...] about Power – Make your own
Straton Solar – Harness the Power of the Sun
Straton Solar is focused on one outcome - the complete eradication of your current electricity consumption account via optimum use of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality Feed-in Tariff scheme (FiT). Now homeowners and business can benefit from installing a grid-tie rooftop solar system and exporting the generated Photo-Voltaic electricity to the grid. The generated PV energy helps the home owner to reduce and eventually eradicate all municipal or Eskom electricity bills. In … [Read more...] about Straton Solar – Harness the Power of the Sun
I told you so
With reference to this post earlier today - Remember what happened yesterday?: Eskom will implement stage 1 load shedding from 17:00 on Wednesday, which is likely to continue until 22:00 this evening. Eskom said because of maintenance, the system will again not be able to meet 1 000MW of demand during the evening peak period. "This means that although certain areas will be without electricity for a certain period, about 96% of South Africans will still continue to receive power supply at … [Read more...] about I told you so
Remember what happened yesterday?
Despite that Eskom is still confident that there will be no load shedding today - in a release Eskom said that it would like to inform the public that it does not anticipate that there will be load shedding for most of today, 06 May 2015, as there is currently enough electricity generating capacity to meet demand. (Editor: See what they did there by using the words 'most' and 'expect'?) In the past seven days (168 hours), Eskom has only had to load shed for about 10 hours and 47 minutes. … [Read more...] about Remember what happened yesterday?
No load shedding anticipated for today
Eskom has enough electricity generating capacity to meet demand and does not anticipate that there will be load shedding for most of the day, the power utility said in a statement on Tuesday. However, although stable at present, the power system is expected to be constrained from 17:00 to 21:00. Eskom started implementing stage 1 load shedding last Wednesday afternoon, breaking an almost six day spell of no power cuts, but only limited it to the evening peak period. "In the past seven … [Read more...] about No load shedding anticipated for today
