Eskom Power Alerts

[Spizz]

@Spizz and this then makes me consider a backup system again. I'm just having trouble justifying it since we get periods where there are no load shedding. Aaarrrgghhhh!

You know you want to

But it's 40 odd degrees here on the west coast today and hotter than hell outside my hotel room. If this power goes off later I'm screwed.

 

[spiderz]

@Spizz and this then makes me consider a backup system again. I'm just having trouble justifying it since we get periods where there are no load shedding. Aaarrrgghhhh!

Get the full solare system, it safes some money on your bill monthly...

 

[Spizz]

Haha, just got a message from the hotel. Loadshedding between 22.30 to 00.30 tonight. Only 2 hours so not too bad.

 

[biometrics]

You know you want to

Being part of the middle class I don't have unlimited funds available. I'd rather get the flat in Melkbos.

Edit: I do have a little backup system, so I do have power when it goes out, just a minor hassle switching things over. Yeah the oven, microwave, kettle and media PC + big screen doesn't work on my 15 year old backup system though. Only 200W.

 

[biometrics]

Get the full solare system, it safes some money on your bill monthly...

R700 a month saving. Over ten years (ignoring increases) that's R84,000. It covers the cost of the system but takes time to claw back. Thereafter you "make" money. I believe the battery should still have 70%+ capacity after ten years.

 

[Tribs]

Loadshedding between 9pm and 5am. Reduce the load

 

[spiderz]

R700 a month saving. Over ten years (ignoring increases) that's R84,000. It covers the cost of the system but takes time to claw back. Thereafter you "make" money. I believe the battery should still have 70%+ capacity after ten years.

That estimate is without the 15% increase eksom wants every few years...

 

[Spizz]

Regardless of saving money or not, do you want power 24/7 is the real question before you cough up for any kind of solution.

 

[biometrics]

 

[Seldom Bucket]

Yeah right, wait for this evening when most of the population is at home...

 

[Spizz]

I was in the middle of nowhere visiting a wind farm today. When I arrived after lunchtime there was not a breath of air and none of the turbines were turning.

 

[biometrics]

I was in the middle of nowhere visiting a wind farm today. When I arrived after lunchtime there was not a breath of air and none of the turbines were turning.

Renewables aren't considered base load though. Sun shines during the day, wind can be any time of the day, or none. If you have a shit load of renewables in different parts of the country then you could probably get rid of base loads.

 

[Johnatan56]

Renewables aren't considered base load though. Sun shines during the day, wind can be any time of the day, or none. If you have a shit load of renewables in different parts of the country then you could probably get rid of base loads.

Base load is a fallacy. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdo...857F94C?doi=10.1.1.184.8972&rep=rep1&type=pdf is from 2010, there was another paper in 2007 from him I think. Picked it as easy read and shows what the thoughts on it were before the substantial reduction in costs over the last decade already.

 

[biometrics]

Base load is a fallacy. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdo...857F94C?doi=10.1.1.184.8972&rep=rep1&type=pdf is from 2010, there was another paper in 2007 from him I think. Picked it as easy read and shows what the thoughts on it were before the substantial reduction in costs over the last decade already.

My point is that with enough renewable redundancy you don't need base load.

 

[Spizz]

Well Eskom are supplementing the renewables with battery storage so that will be a huge development. The batteries generally store 4 hours of the plants capacity.

 

[biometrics]

Well Eskom are supplementing the renewables with battery storage so that will be a huge development. The batteries generally store 4 hours of the plants capacity.

There's also pumped storage like at Steenbras and elsewhere. (Which our high school class visited in the 80s. Very noisy and huge fucking machinery.)

 

[Johnatan56]

Well Eskom are supplementing the renewables with battery storage so that will be a huge development. The batteries generally store 4 hours of the plants capacity.

Tbh, Eskom should be investing in more CSP, it's definitely hit the price of being competitive this year.
It's such a large fall due to some projects taking a while to get approved (CSP is the least invested in renewable tech at the moment probably), a lot came online late 2020. South Africa probably has some of the best conditions for CSP in the world and it's definitely cheaper than the powerships they're paying for (above table is levelized cost btw).

Based on available purchase agreements, the average CSP price is expected to drop to $94/MWh in 2020 and $75/MWh for projects online in 2021, IRENA said.

Plants such as Cerro Dominador in Chile use high-temperature towers and storage to drive down levelized costs.

"This represents a reduction of 48% to 59%, compared to the global weighted-average project LCOE in 2019," it said.

Global Concentrated Solar Power costs dive as learnings kick in

Average CSP prices to fall by a half as Chile, Dubai projects near completion. The global average cost of new CSP projects is set to plummet in 2020 and 2021, based on auction and power purchase agreement (PPA) data, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) said in its latest annual...

www.cspfocus.cn

 

[biometrics]

Tbh, Eskom should be investing in more CSP, it's definitely hit the price of being competitive this year.View attachment 12757
It's such a large fall due to some projects taking a while to get approved (CSP is the least invested in renewable tech at the moment probably), a lot came online late 2020. South Africa probably has some of the best conditions for CSP in the world and it's definitely cheaper than the powerships they're paying for (above table is levelized cost btw).

Global Concentrated Solar Power costs dive as learnings kick in

Average CSP prices to fall by a half as Chile, Dubai projects near completion. The global average cost of new CSP projects is set to plummet in 2020 and 2021, based on auction and power purchase agreement (PPA) data, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) said in its latest annual...

www.cspfocus.cn

Great as long as you're not a bird.

 

[Spizz]

Tbh, Eskom should be investing in more CSP, it's definitely hit the price of being competitive this year.View attachment 12757
It's such a large fall due to some projects taking a while to get approved (CSP is the least invested in renewable tech at the moment probably), a lot came online late 2020. South Africa probably has some of the best conditions for CSP in the world and it's definitely cheaper than the powerships they're paying for (above table is levelized cost btw).

Global Concentrated Solar Power costs dive as learnings kick in

Average CSP prices to fall by a half as Chile, Dubai projects near completion. The global average cost of new CSP projects is set to plummet in 2020 and 2021, based on auction and power purchase agreement (PPA) data, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) said in its latest annual...

www.cspfocus.cn

Sure, but this program is the result of conditions attached to the world bank loan for Medupi and Kusile in which Eskom have to have 1440MWh of batteries in place by end of next year.

They’ve been slow to release and have just released 7 projects around the country totalling 800MWh with tenders due in by early May.

Btw, if they don’t have the full capacity and installed and on line in time, they are liable to repay the entire loan borrower for Medupi and Kusile.

 

[biometrics]

Sure, but this program is the result of conditions attached to the world bank loan for Medupi and Kusile in which Eskom have to have 1440MWh of batteries in place by end of next year.

They’ve been slow to release and have just released 7 projects around the country totalling 800MWh with tenders due in by early May.

Btw, if they don’t have the full capacity and installed and on line in time, they are liable to repay the entire loan borrower for Medupi and Kusile.

What kind of batteries do they use for that scale?