Energy

The plant is expected to come online in late 2026. (Image source: Teraco)

Teraco, part of Digital Realty and a provider of interconnection platforms and vendor-neutral colocation data centres, has started construction on a 120MW utility-scale solar PV power plant in South Africa's Free State province

Teraco will own this 120MW solar PV facility and transfer its renewable energy to power its data centres, marking a step toward establishing a self-sustaining energy source for next-generation cloud and AI computing needs. The plant is set to be operational by late 2026.

“Driving renewable energy infrastructure investment at a time when computing applications such as artificial intelligence are using increased power is an industry imperative. The need is even more acute in South Africa, given its electricity generation constraints and current levels of renewable energy penetration. This is a significant step toward meeting our renewable energy ambitions and those of our clients. It is also only the first phase of our longer-term renewable energy commitment, with the construction commencement marking an important milestone in what has been a long journey over the last several years, and we are now looking forward to driving the project to completion,”commented Jan Hnizdo, CEO at Teraco.

"In South Africa, we have various energy challenges, and this presents an incredible opportunity to support the needs of our broader community through the addition of generation capacity to our constrained grid, while meeting Teraco’s near term renewable energy objectives. This represents a unique holistic approach since Teraco plans to not only own its data centres, but also to power them with a renewable energy source, creating a sustainable path to growth. This initiative aligns with Teraco’s long-term vision of powering digital transformation across Africa. South Africa’s solar power represents a competitive advantage for data centres relative to other locations,” continued Hnizdo.

Power to remote locations

In February, Teraco secured grid capacity allocation from Eskom for the solar plant and has since worked to finalise the plant's design and the wheeling arrangements between Eskom and the municipalities of Ekurhuleni and Cape Town, where several Teraco data centres are located.

Wheeling renewable energy across power grids allows energy generated in remote locations to reach end-users in urban areas by utilising existing transmission systems, enabling renewable energy projects to be deployed in high-yield areas for optimal generation. This project, with wheeling across multiple municipalities, is a first for South Africa's renewable energy sector.

Bryce Allan, Teraco's head of sustainability, explained, “Teraco considers this project essential to achieving its renewable energy ambitions and believes it will pave the way for other municipality renewable energy wheeling projects. This will ultimately assist municipalities in attracting new investments and remaining competitive as local and international companies become increasingly sensitive to the carbon intensity of their electricity supply.”

The panel emphasised South-South collaboration. (Image source: Alain Charles Publishing)

During a panel session at recently-concluded ADIPEC 2024 Exhibition & Conference, industry stakeholders discussed ways to increase collaboration between countries in the global South and the global North.

The discussion focused on energy transitions and the role of OPEC in ensuring energy access. Key points included the need for diverse energy sources, with OPEC advocating for all forms of energy, not just renewables. The conversation highlighted energy inequalities, such as Heathrow Airport consuming more energy than Sierra Leone.

The Paris Agreement was emphasised as a reduction of emissions, not a phase-out of fossil fuels. The East Africa pipeline and Uganda's oil projects faced financing challenges but are progressing.

The importance of South-South cooperation and regional collaboration in energy projects was underscored, with examples from Uganda, Cyprus, and Sierra Leone.

His Excellency Haitham Al Ghais, Secretary General of OPEC, explained why fossil fuels will continue to play an important role in the global South.

“We talk about the importance of another factor, which is urbanisation. By 2030 which is less than six years from today, we're going to have over 582 million people, nearly 600 million people, moving into new cities all around the world, again in non OECD developing parts of the world,” he said.

“The Paris Agreement, ladies and gentlemen, is about reduction of emissions. It's not about phasing out or phasing down or keeping the oil under the ground. It's about reducing emissions that includes technology, that includes investing in renewables, investing in all sources of energy.”

“We have the OPEC Fund for International Development, an agency, a sister agency, based in Vienna, that is very active in Africa and other parts of the world in developing and promoting socio economic development projects, energy projects as well as renewable energy projects.”

“We also have the charter of cooperation, which we signed in 2019 which is a platform that is open for oil producers to participate in, whether it's exchange of technologies, exchange of experiences between various member countries and non OPEC producers who are not members of OPEC that can participate in this platform to gain access to the best practices being implemented in our member countries.”

Growing collaboration

Uganda’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Development Ruth Nankabirwa, said, “The East African crude oil pipeline was a negotiated project, and it was a win-win. My president wanted all the oil refined in Uganda, but because we didn't have money to do it by ourselves, we collaborated with investors and we let some of the crude leave the country, while some is refined, which will come with industrialisation.”

Deputy Minister of Energy for Sierra Leone Edmond Nonie, said, “We have big clients in the mining sector who have the capital to pay and have the willingness to pay for lower priced electricity from the grid. So we are embarking on a campaign to connect these mining companies, and once we have these transmission lines out to these companies, we can then do the further, last mile connection to our communities.”

Meanwhile, Cyprus is collaborating with Egypt for energy transmission.

The country’s Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry, George Papanastasiou, said, “The conversation with my colleagues in Egypt is to utilise the [Egyptian] infrastructure [for export]. Secondly, there are pipelines that cross the eastern Mediterranean, which reach Egypt. And the infrastructure in Egypt, there are two LNG terminals, liquefaction plants in Egypt, which are under-utilised.

“This is possibly the destination in order to reach the markets. Of course, there is the domestic market of Egypt as well, which is very important. We all know that power generation in this country is mostly coming from natural gas. Cyprus is very well positioned, and at the right time in order to support and provide the natural gas and use the infrastructure in order to reach the international markets.”

3000kVA 400V primary equipment prior to enclosure installation. (Image source: WEG Africa)

The increasing reliance of South African businesses on generator sets (gensets) to mitigate power disruptions highlights a crucial need for proper selection based on specific operational demands

Despite their growing usage, there is still widespread confusion about how to choose the appropriate genset, often leading to inefficient and costly decisions.

Understanding the differences between standby, prime and continuous applications is essential to optimise genset performance and longevity. This is according to Craig Bouwer, senior manager gensets at WEG Africa, who explained that many customers mistakenly select gensets based solely on nameplate rating.

“Understanding the specific application of the genset is crucial for the right selection, and the first step is knowing that genset applications are broadly categorised into standby, prime and continuous, each with distinct operational requirements,” he said.

Selecting the right genset

Standby gensets are seldom used, typically kept for emergency situations. These units have a limit on operational hours per year and a specific load factor. In South Africa, due to frequent load shedding, few gensets are used solely for standby purposes.

Prime and continuous applications are more common in the country. Prime gensets can run unlimited hours annually with variable loads, maintaining an average load factor below their maximum rating. Continuous gensets also operate unlimited hours, but with a constant and predetermined load.

Damian Schutte, engineering manager at WEG Africa, explained that understanding the difference between prime and continuous ratings is also critical. The load factor is a key differentiator and not the unlimited time requirement, with prime applications having variable loads and continuous ones having fixed loads.

Schutte used a vehicle analogy to illustrate the differences: a continuous genset is like a car on cruise control operating at a steady speed within its capacity on a long-distance trip, while a prime genset is akin to a vehicle driving in the city. Standby can be perceived as racing between traffic lights.

Matching needs and service life

The choice of genset rating impacts its expected lifespan and maintenance needs. For example, continuous power may be required in mines during load shedding to supplement limited grid power, while industrial applications like workshops, with variable loads, would need a prime-rated genset.

Bouwer noted that standby power remains vital in essential service sectors for health and safety reasons, especially in environments like mines, hospitals, and data centres.

WEG Africa, as an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), uses these categories to guide customers in their genset choices, aiming to match their specific needs and expected service life. They caution against oversimplifying the selection process by just matching the total load with a genset's nameplate rating, as this can lead to premature failure and additional costs.

“To ensure the correct choice, we work closely with customers assessing their load requirements, usage frequency and operational conditions and through this process ensure optimal genset selection,” Bouwer concluded.

This article was authored by WEG Africa.

WEG Africa offers in-house access to specialised facilities including a labyrinth rolling machine for sealing strips. (Image source: WEG Africa)

Steam turbines represent mission-critical equipment for a range of industries from sugar and paper to steel and petrochemicals, but there is now greater opportunity among these sectors to generate more energy to sell into South Africa’s national grid, according to WEG Africa

Traditionally, companies using steam turbines have usually consumed all the energy they produce in their processes – with a range of benefits such as supply reliability and cost savings. As the country struggles to keep up with power demand, however, there are more opportunities for the private sector to produce excess electricity for sale into the grid.

According to Alastair Gerrard, executive energy systems at WEG Africa, this trend is already advanced in Brazil – the home of holding company WEG. Many steam turbine users in Brazil have capitalised on these opportunities by increasing their boiler efficiency.

“While it may be common in South Africa’s sugar industry, for example, to use medium pressure boilers, the Brazilian market uses high pressure boilers up to 140 bar – and gain significant efficiencies with these higher pressures,” said Gerrard. “This allows these sugar producers and other users to upgrade their facilities and considerably augment their revenues through the sale of electricity, while also paying off their capital investments much quicker.”

He points to the government’s strategic direction in establishing the National Transmission Company of South Africa, a key step in transforming the country’s electricity industry. This will open doors for more private companies to ‘export’ excess electricity into the grid, helping to stabilise supply and strengthen the foundation for economic growth.

“This has been successfully achieved in countries like Brazil, and it is exciting to see that we are making progress on this journey in South Africa,” Gerrard added. “We believe that WEG Africa has an important role to play in this endeavour – through our long experience in this field and our full service offering for steam turbine users.”

A comprehensive offering

Cobus van Eeden, WEG turbine services manager at WEG Africa, highlighted that the company offers customers a turnkey capability. It sizes steam turbine solutions according to the specific operating parameters of the customer’s application, and supplies a bespoke thermal power system. The service also includes installing the machines, commissioning and ongoing after-sales servicing and maintenance.

“As an OEM of steam turbines, gearboxes and generators, we can even help customers to assess their current equipment – whether these are WEG products or from other OEMs – and provide strategic options and recommendations,” surmised van Eeden. “In addition to our depth of engineering expertise for repairing such equipment, we can also analyse the potential for enhancing operational efficiency and increasing power output capability of the equipment.”

The company provides long term service level agreements, including contracts for preventative maintenance. WEG Africa also works with customers on their forward planning, which may include considering the transition to electricity exporting.

Unrivalled customer support

Gerrard pointed out that this approach is built on its commitment as an OEM to stand alongside customers throughout the lifecycle of the equipment supplied. He noted that, while there has in the past been some acceptance of third-party support in this field, WEG Africa favours in-house OEM support for its solutions through service level agreements that give customers confidence in the total lifecycle cost of their purchase.

“Our field service technicians – active in many African countries and offshore – are on site with customers, developing a thorough understanding of their equipment and requirements,” he explained. “We integrate this information within our various functions to deliver the most valuable response and guidance on maintenance scheduling.”

Van Eeden outlined WEG Africa’s extensive engineering capability which includes machine servicing on customers’ sites – from gearboxes and turbines to generators and control systems. Equipment requiring more intensive work can be transported to the company’s 1,200 sq m workshop east of Johannesburg, which prides itself on quick turnarounds.

“Our facility includes full engineering capabilities, including the repair and manufacture of turbine bearings as well as the ability to conduct aftermarket engineering and optimising of numerous components,” he said. “We achieve this through our skilled machinists and technical staff, working with sophisticated scanning and engineering tools.”

In-house access to specialised facilities such as a labyrinth rolling machine for sealing strips, as well as a sandblasting booth for preparing components, further underpins the quality of workmanship and efficiency – thereby minimising downtime for customers.

This article was authored by WEG Africa.