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South Africa needs big investments in renewables

29 September 2022 | Story Nitha Ramnath and André Damons | Photo iStock

Energy efficiency and renewable energy is the game for South Africa to transition to a carbon-friendly economy by 2050. The energy mix by 2050 is focused on renewables and the long-term journey is very clear: we have to be renewable driven.

This is according to panellists speaking at the University of the Free State’s (UFS) third webinar in the 2022 Thought-Leader webinar series. The webinar titled, What needs to be done to POWER up South Africa? comprised panellists Matthew Mflathelwa, General Manager: Strategy and Planning at Eskom; Steve Nicholls, Head of Mitigation at South Africa’s Presidential Climate Commission (PCC); Happy Khambule, Environment and Energy Manager at Business Unity South Africa (BUSA); and Louis Lagrange, Head: Department of Engineering Sciences in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, UFS.

We need to invest in new infrastructure

In his presentation, Mflathelwa talked about how Eskom can unlock additional grid capacity and how to start rolling out business models to enable this transition.

“On the demand side, we are looking at some exciting and interesting initiatives. We are looking at how we can start to aggregate or leverage the idea of consumers becoming prosumers, and leverage technology to aggregate the potential supply and management demand from that perspective.”

“The question is also how to do this sustainably in the long term. We need to invest a considerable amount of new infrastructure,” said Mflathelwa.

According to him, it is not a secret that most of Eskom’s generating assets are approaching the end of life. The question now is how to proactively plan for this to ensure that we address the problem of load shedding sustainably. “The big takeaway is that there is a significant amount of new capacity that needs to be built and this is predominantly going to be renewables, but it is not the only additional infrastructure that is required. We need an energy mix that can respond and achieve adequacy for the future requirements.”

Another important element that is often neglected is the transmission of grid infrastructure, given the penetration or entry of new players with greater penetration of renewable energy and the advantages that come with distributing these energy sources across the country. There is a lot of transmission and distribution infrastructure needed to enable this future capacity.

Some of the things also being discussed, said Mflathelwa, are how to enable greater and faster penetration of new capacity – specifically renewables to aid in the reduction of environmental challenges.

LISTEN: 2022 UFS Thought-Leader Webinar:
What needs to be done to POWER up South Africa
(Recorded on 27 September 2022)

The next decade is critical

Nicholls gave a climate-friendly perspective on the work that Eskom is doing, saying energy transition in SA is core to the overall economy transition and getting a zero-carbon, least-cost energy system is fundamental to the strategy of the country.

“We need to move from carbon emissions of around 480 megatons per annum today to somewhere between 350 and 420 by 2030, and then onto zero carbon emissions by 2050. If South Africa is to reach net-zero by 2050, we need targeted investment between now and 2030, setting the stage for accelerated investment in decarbonisation post 2030. The next decade is critical. Given the state of South Africa’s balance sheets, international support and foreign direct investment are critical.”

Nicholls said the energy mix by 2050 is really focused on renewables, and the long-term journey is very clear: we have to be renewable driven. The short- and long-term solutions are alike; renewables are cheaper, quicker to get onto the grid, pending some investment in the grid.

“In the long term, we need big investments in renewables – about 6 GW a year between now and mid-2050. We need a big investment in the transmission grid. Hydrogen plays a critical role in decarbonisation of power and industry. Energy efficiency is key. It’s really the unsung hero in this conversation. If we can be energy efficient, we can take two power stations off the grid and that makes a big difference in terms of affordability.”

“Transport is also important; if we are going to be a net-zero economy, we have to fully electrify the transport fleet, which puts an extra load on what Eskom needs to achieve,” Nicholls said.

Energy efficiency is most critical

Khambule emphasized that the country needs to focus on using energy in an efficient manner in the commercial and household sectors, as energy efficiency is critical to the country’s power supply issues in the short term. According to Khambule, the country is not using energy in an efficient manner.

"If we are able to use power the minute it is necessary and become more efficient with it, we can get more value out of that power," said Khambule.

Lagrange concurred with Khambule on the importance of energy efficiency, referring to it as ‘the unsung hero’. “Energy efficiency is the biggest solution that we can have, and people need to be trained on how to use energy efficiently,” said Lagrange.

Khambule also addressed the issue of power cuts, saying the unpredictability thereof, even in the short-term, further exacerbated the situation.

"The unpredictability of load shedding has become much more of a driver for uncertainty, which leads to a lack of business confidence, and secondly leads to losses in production; a key notion is that if we have predictability of load shedding, planning can be undertaken, and if planning is undertaken in a more judicious manner, then we are at least able to keep the losses at a minimum and see how we can weather the storm until a sustainable supply can be implemented."

Khambule also added that in the short and mid-term, solutions must consider protecting or mitigating options for vulnerable sectors. “In some industries – such as health care, power is essential and there is a need for predictable supply. Therefore, some sectors will require mitigating solutions to protect some essential sectors,” said Khambule.

According to Lagrange, no amazing technology for the generation and distribution of energy has been developed over the past decade. “We need to reimagine the entire current regulatory systems business model, because it is caught up in an energy stagnation, which is frighteningly fragile from a physical and cyber-security point of view,” added Lagrange.

News Archive

Inaugural lecture: Prof Robert Bragg, Dept. of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology

2006-05-17

Attending the inaugural lecture were in front from the left Prof Robert Bragg (lecturer at the Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology) and Frederick Fourie (Rector and Vice-Chancellor). At the back from the left were Prof James du Preez (Departmental Chairperson: Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology) and Prof Herman van Schalkwyk (Dean: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences). Photo: Stephen Collett

A summary of an inaugural lecture delivered by Prof Robert Bragg at the University of the Free State:

CONTROL OF INFECTIOUS AVIAN DISEASES – LESSONS FOR MAN?

Prof Robert R Bragg
Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology
University of the Free State

“Many of the lessons learnt in disease control in poultry will have application on human medicine,” said Prof Robert Bragg, lecturer at the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology during his inaugural lecture.

Prof Bragg said the development of vaccines remains the main stay of disease control in humans as well as in avian species. Disease control can not rely on vaccination alone and other disease-control options must be examined.

“With the increasing problems of antibiotic resistance, the use of disinfection and bio security are becoming more important,” he said.

“Avian influenza (AI) is an example of a disease which can spread from birds to humans. Hopefully this virus will not develop human to human transmission,” said Prof Bragg.

According to Prof Bragg, South Africa is not on the migration route of water birds, which are the main transmitters of AI. “This makes South Africa one of the countries less likely to get the disease,” he said.

If the AI virus does develop human to human transmission, it could make the 1918 flu pandemic pale into insignificance. During the 1918 flu pandemic, the virus had a mortality rate of only 3%, yet more than 50 million people died.

Although the AI virus has not developed human-to-human transmission, all human cases have been related to direct contact with infected birds. The mortality rate in humans who have contracted this virus is 67%.

“Apart from the obvious fears for the human population, this virus is a very serious poultry pathogen and can cause 100% mortality in poultry populations. Poultry meat and egg production is the staple protein source in most countries around the world. The virus is currently devastating the poultry industry world-wide,” said Prof Bragg.

Prof Bragg’s research activities on avian diseases started off with the investigation of diseases in poultry. “The average life cycle of a broiler chicken is 42 days. After this short time, they are slaughtered. As a result of the short generation time in poultry, one can observe changes in microbial populations as a result of the use of vaccines, antibiotics and disinfectants,” said Prof Bragg.

“Much of my research effort has been directed towards the control of infectious coryza in layers, which is caused by the bacterium Avibacterium paragallinarum. This disease is a type of sinusitis in the layer chickens and can cause a drop in egg product of up to 40%,” said Prof Bragg.

The vaccines used around the world in an attempt to control this disease are all inactivated vaccines. One of the most important points is the selection of the correct strains of the bacterium to use in the vaccine.

Prof Bragg established that in South Africa, there are four different serovars of the bacterium and one of these, the serovar C-3 strain, was believed to be unique to Southern Africa. He also recently discovered this serovar for the first time in Israel, thus indicating that this serovar might have a wider distribution than originally believed.

Vaccines used in this country did not contain this serovar. Prof Bragg established that the long term use of vaccines not containing the local South African strain resulted in a shift in the population distribution of the pathogen.

Prof Bragg’s research activities also include disease control in parrots and pigeons. “One of the main research projects in my group is on the disease in parrots caused by the circovirus Beak and Feather Disease virus. This virus causes serious problems in the parrot breeding industry in this country. This virus is also threatening the highly endangered and endemic Cape Parrot,” said Prof Bragg.

Prof Bragg’s research group is currently working on the development of a DNA vaccine which will assist in the control of the disease, not only in the parrot breeding industry, but also to help the highly endangered Cape Parrot in its battle for survival.

“Not all of our research efforts are directed towards infectious coryza or the Beak and Feather Disease virus. One of my Masters students is currently investigating the cell receptors involved in the binding of Newcastle Disease virus to cancerous cells and normal cells of humans. This work will also eventually lead to a possible treatment of cancer in humans and will assist with the development of a recombinant vaccine for Newcastle disease virus,” said Prof Bragg.

We are also currently investigating an “unknown” virus which causes disease problems in poultry in the Western Cape,” said Prof Bragg.

“Although disinfection has been extensively used in the poultry industry, it has only been done at the pre-placement stage. In other words, disinfectants are used before the birds are placed into the house. Once the birds are placed, all use of disinfectants stops,” said Prof Bragg.

“Disinfection and bio security can be seen as the ‘Cinderella’ of disease control in poultry. This is also true for human medicine. One just has to look at the high numbers of people who die from hospital-acquired infections to realise that disinfection is not a concept which is really clear in human health care,” said Prof Bragg.

Much research has been done in the control of diseases through vaccination and through the use of antibiotics. “These pillars of disease control are, however, starting to crumble and more effort is needed on disinfection and bio security,” said Prof Bragg.

Prof Bragg has been working in close co-operation with a chemical manufacturing company in Stellenbosch to develop a unique disinfectant which his highly effective yet not toxic to the birds.

As a result of this unique product, he has developed the continual disinfection program for use in poultry. In this program the disinfectant is used throughout the production cycle of the birds. It is also used to ensure that there is excellent pre-placement disinfection.

“The program is extensively used for the control of infectious diseases in the parrot-breeding industry in South Africa and the product has been registered in 15 countries around the world with registration in the USA in the final process,” said Prof Bragg.

“Although the problem of plasmid mediated resistance to disinfectants is starting to rear its ugly head, this has allowed for the opening of a new research field which my group will hopefully exploit in the near future,” he said.

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