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What needs to be done to POWER up South Africa?

07 September 2022 | Story Dr Nitha Ramnath

2022 UFS Thought-leader webinar series: What needs to be done to POWER up South Africa?

The University of the Free State is pleased to present its third webinar titled, What needs to be done to POWER up South Africa, which is part of the 2022 Thought-Leader Webinar Series. As a public higher-education institution in South Africa with a responsibility to contribute to public discourse, the University of the Free State (UFS) will be presenting the webinar in collaboration with the Free State Literature Festival. The aim of the webinar series is to discuss issues facing South Africa by engaging experts at the university and in South Africa.

Third webinar presented on 27 September 2022

South Africa’s ageing coal power plants are the cause of massive power outages on a regular basis. A dire need exists to diversify our energy mix and to consider more renewable energy. Renewable energy is regarded far cheaper than coal and the construction of coal power plants. South Africa is well positioned environmentally, with the best wind and solar potential on the entire African continent. Economic viability and benefits accompany the exploitation of renewable energy, which will provide much-needed stability in South Africa.

Date: Tuesday 27 September 2022
Time: 12:30-14:00
RSVP: https://events.ufs.ac.za/e/2022UFSThoughtLeaderWebinarSeries by 25 September 2022.

For further information, contact Alicia Pienaar at pienaaran1@ufs.ac.za.

Some of the topics discussed by leading experts in 2021 included, among others, reimagining universities for student success; corruption in South Africa – the endemic pandemic; South African politics and the local government elections; is South Africa falling apart: where to from here; predications for 2022; and why vaccinate? This year’s webinar series commenced on 31 May 2022 with the topic Crime in South Africa – who is to blame? This was followed by a webinar held in July, which asked the question, Are our glasses half full or half empty?

Facilitator:

Prof Francis Petersen
Rector and Vice-Chancellor, UFS

Panellists:

Nthato Minyuku

Group Executive
Government and Regulatory Affairs
Eskom

Steve Nicholls

Head of Mitigation
Presidential Climate Commission

Happy Khambule

Environment and Energy Manager
Business Unity South Africa (BUSA)

Louis Lagrange

Head: Department of Engineering Sciences
Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, UFS

Bios of speakers:

Nthato Minyuku

Ms Nthato Minyuku is Eskom’s Group Executive: Government and Regulatory Affairs responsible for positioning, advocacy, shared value, and unlocking constraints to value defence and growth. She joined Eskom in 2020 as part of the new executive team recruited by GCE André de Ruyter. She has an extensive track record as executive in various sectors, including energy, maritime oil and gas, infrastructure, and urban development.

In her previous roles, Minyuku was the former Corporate Affairs Executive for Shell South Africa, former Chief Economic Planner for the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission (PICC), former President of the South African Planning Institute (SAPI), and former member of the SA Council for Planners (SACPLAN) appointed by the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform.

She is currently the Board Chairperson of the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) appointed by the Minister of Transport. Passionate about women’s participation in the energy sector, she facilitates the Unleashing Leadership Potential (ULP) Women in Energy Forum.

Steve Nicholls

Steve Nicholls is the recently appointed Head of Mitigation in South Africa’s Presidential Climate Commission. In this role, he works with a range of stakeholders to reach consensus on net-zero pathways for each sector of the economy built on a strong fact base, while supporting capacity building and cooperation within the modelling community in South Africa. Understanding future competitive economies and what kind of investments are required to enhance South Africa’s economic competitiveness while creating employment and reducing inequality and poverty will be his key focus. Nicholls maintains an ongoing advisory role to the National Business Initiative, supporting its Just Transition Pathways project.

Nicholls’ past experience is in connecting climate issues with economic impact, and therefore building the strategic case for integrating climate considerations into economic planning, strategy, risk management, investment planning, policy development and implementation.

Prior to joining the PCC, Nicholls led the Environment and Society programmes at the National Business Initiative. In this role, he ran the programmes that harnessed the collective effort of South African business across the areas of energy, climate change, and water. Nicholls has worked in the consulting industry in the United Kingdom and South Africa and has worked on projects in Europe and Southern and East Africa. He has worked across several sectors, including mining, telecommunications, government, electrical energy, oil and gas, financial services, and retail.

Happy Khambule

Khambule is the former Greenpeace Africa senior political adviser on climate and energy. He studied law at the University of Johannesburg and was recognised by the British Council as a Global Changemaker and International Climate Champion in 2008 and 2010. In 2013, he was selected as one of the Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans. Khambule is an official party delegate to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and negotiates various issues, such as Paris Agreement implementation and response measures. He serves on the Paris Agreement Compliance Committee and is a non-executive director in Mansa Advisory. He serves on various boards, including the Earthlife Africa board and the CleanCity SA board, as an independent non-executive board chairperson.

Khambule is part of the inaugural President's Coordinating Commission on Climate Change (PCC) and is Business Unity South Africa's Head of Environment and Energy.

Louis Lagrange

Louis Lagrange is an agricultural engineer, who is specialised in project management, food process engineering, and energy engineering. Lagrange is currently leading a team at the University of the Free State that has successfully established a new degree in Engineering Sciences. The establishment was followed by new research in energy efficiency. Lagrange is also leading the establishment of a new full Engineering degree in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, specialising in energy engineering, food process engineering, and environmental biosystems engineering.

Prior to joining the UFS, Lagrange spent seven years at the University of KwaZulu-Natal as Senior Lecturer in the School of Bio-resources Engineering and Environmental Hydrology. Here he focused on energy conversion through tractors, combine harvesters, and implements and developed the new food process engineering subjects.

Lagrange’s passion for education is also prevalent through the facilitation of strategic and scenario planning for groups and boards of directors, including the facilitation of certified energy manager, certified energy auditor, business efficiency professional, certified lighting efficiency professional, and fundamentals of energy management training over the past 12 years for Energy Cybernetics, the Energy Training Foundation, and currently for the Institute of Energy Professionals Africa. He also co-developed and is the trainer of the new Energy Audit Technician and Energy Performance Certificate training courses for South Africa.

In his previous roles, Lagrange was project manager: research and development and portfolio manager: food processing for Agrele, a subsidiary of Eskom. Here, he focused on the development, marketing, and implementation of innovative methods to utilise and stimulate the additional use of electricity in agriculture.

News Archive

Power interruptions: Information for internal communication

2008-01-31

As part of the UFS’s commitment to address load shedding, the management would like to communicate the following:

The UFS mainly deals with the power interruptions by way of (a) the possible installation of equipment (e.g. generators) and (b) operational arrangements to ensure the functioning of the UFS in spite of power interruptions.

During the past week progress was made on both fronts. The information that follows resulted from a meeting of a task team of Physical Resources led by Mr Nico Janse van Rensburg, which took place on Monday 28 January (this task team naturally focuses on physical solutions) and a discussion by Exco on Wednesday 30 January 2008. Exco discussed the recommendations of the mentioned task team in respect of physical aspects, as well as the operational arrangements proposed by faculties.

Physical solutions

A Main Campus

1. New emergency power installations already approved:

Last week Exco gave its approval for the design and installation of emergency power equipment in all the large lecture-hall complexes to proceed immediately.

In all these cases

load surveys have been completed and a start has been made with the ordering of equipment and the process of appointing contractors. (Exco approved the adjustment of normal tender procedures in an attempt to expedite completion.)
generators with 20-30% more capacity than required for the current load are being ordered.
provision is being made for the connection of lights and at least one wall plug to the emergency power.
the expected construction time is 16 weeks (except in the case of the Flippie Groenewoud Building where it is 6 weeks).

The above-mentioned concerns lecture halls/ venues in the following buildings: Examination Centre, Flippie Groenewoud Building, Stabilis, Genmin and the Agriculture Building.

As far as the Agriculture Building is concerned, a larger generator (larger than required for lecture venues only) is being ordered in view of simultaneously providing essential research equipment (refrigerators, ovens, glasshouses) with emergency power within 16 weeks.

2. Investigation into the optimal utilisation of present emergency power installations

All the emergency power systems are being investigated on the basis of a list compiled in 2006 to determine whether excess capacity is available and whether it is possible to connect additional essential equipment or lights to it.

The electrical engineer warns as follows:
“Staff members must under no circumstances overload present emergency power points.

A typical example of this is a laboratory with 10 power points of which 2 points are emergency power outlets. Normally a fridge and freezer would, for example, be plugged into the two emergency power points, but now, with long load-shedding interruptions, a considerably larger number of appliances are being plugged into the power point by means of multi-sockets and extension cords. In the end the effect of such connections will accumulate at the emergency generator, which will then create a greater danger of it being overloaded and tripping, in other words, no emergency power will then be available.”

3. Requests and needs addressed directly to Physical Resources or reported to Exco via the line managers.

All the physical needs and requests addressed directly to Physical Resources or submitted to Exco via the line managers are being listed, classified and considered technically in view of their being discussed by the task team on Monday 11 February.
The information will (a) lead to recommendations to Exco regarding possible additional urgent emergency power installations, and (b) be used in the comprehensive investigation into the UFS’s preparedness for and management of long power interruptions.

Requests that can easily be complied with immediately and that fit into the general strategy will indeed be dealt with as soon as possible.

4. Purchase of loose-standing equipment: light, small, loose-standing generators, UPSs as solutions to/ aids during power interruptions

Exco approved that

a) faculties and support services accept responsibility themselves for the funding and purchase of loose equipment such as, for example battery lights, should they regard these as essential.
b) UPSs (uninterruptible power supplies) that faculties and support services wish to purchase to combat the detrimental effect of unexpected power interruptions on computer equipment) can (as at present) be purchased from own funds via Computer Services.
c) UPSs (uninterruptible power supplies) that faculties and support services wish to purchase to combat the detrimental effect of unexpected power interruptions on other types of equipment can normally be purchased from own funds with the consent of the line manager concerned.
Note: Please just make sure of the appropriateness of the equipment for a specific situation: it is not a power supply that can bridge a two-hour power interruption.)
d) small, loose-standing generators can be purchased from own funds via Physical Resources and installed under their supervision.
e) laptop computers can , where necessary, be purchased from own budgets. The availability of second-hand laptop computers must be taken into account.

B Vista

No major problems have been reported to date. The situation is being monitored and will be managed according to need. The same guidelines that apply to the Main Campus will naturally also apply to the Vista Campus.

C Qwaqwa

The situation is receiving attentions and solutions have already been found for most problems.

D General

1. All-inclusive project
A comprehensive investigation into the UFS’s preparedness for and management of long power interruptions will be launched as soon as possible. Available capacity will be utilised first to alleviate the immediate need. The needs assessment to which all faculties and support services have already contributed is already an important building block of the larger project.

2. Building and construction projects currently in the planning and implementation phase
The need for emergency power for projects such as the new Computer Laboratory is being investigated proactively and will be addressed in a suitable manner.

3. Liaison with Centlec
Attempts at direct and continuous liaison are continuing in an attempt to accommodate the unique needs of the UFS.

4. HESA meeting and liaison with other universities
A representative of the UFS will attend a meeting of all higher education institutions on 11 February. The meeting is being arranged by HESA (Higher Education South Africa) to discuss the implications for the sector, the management of risks and the sector’s response to government.

5. Internal communication
It is the intention to communicate internally after every meeting of the task team, which will take place on Mondays. Strategic Communication will assist in this regard.

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