Biggest battery storage system in South Africa now feeding power into Eskom's grid

Hanno Labuschagne

Hanno Labuschagne

Journalist
Staff member
Joined
Sep 2, 2019
Messages
5,519
Reaction score
3,805
Last edited:
I swear Eskom will still be making plans after they're completely replaced by private sector.

Just another Post Office or Transnet where private companies do 95% of the heavy lifting and they're just another third world social grant circus full of losers and criminals masquerading as a functional service provider.

Enjoy the spoils while it lasts, ANC won't be in power forever.
 
Last edited:
With an installed solar capacity of 540 MW and a battery storage capacity of 225MW/1,140MWh, this innovative and large-scale project delivers 150 MW of dispatchable power from 5 am to 9.30 pm year-round to the national grid under a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement with Eskom.
Click to expand...

Pretty neat.
 
It's one OCGT so not a bad thing
 
"Construction of the Kenhardt hybrid facility started in July 2022 and included the installation of almost 1 million PV modules. At the peak of its construction, the site employed 2,600 workers.
The entire hybrid facility spans 879 hectares and measures 10 km from north to south."

"Scatec CEO Terje Pilskog congratulated the Scatec team for delivering the project on schedule, within budget and with good Health, Safety, Security & Environment performance, and thanked all partners and stakeholders who had been integral to its success."

Bloody hell.
When's the last time you saw those words?

Well done to them!
About time we started giving the Aussies a run for their money.

I say we plaster the whole damn northern cape with solar panels. Those lekker fat tailed sheep over there can use them for shading before becoming a new skaaptjoppie on my plate.
Double-win.

1705317758796.png
 
Last edited:
RaptorSA said:
"Construction of the Kenhardt hybrid facility started in July 2022 and included the installation of almost 1 million PV modules. At the peak of its construction, the site employed 2,600 workers.
The entire hybrid facility spans 879 hectares and measures 10 km from north to south."

"Scatec CEO Terje Pilskog congratulated the Scatec team for delivering the project on schedule, within budget and with good Health, Safety, Security & Environment performance, and thanked all partners and stakeholders who had been integral to its success."

Bloody hell.
When's the last time you saw those words?

Well done to them!
About time we started giving the Aussies a run for their money.

I say we plaster the whole damn northern cape with solar panels. Those lekker fat tailed sheep over there can use them for shading before becoming a new skaaptjoppie on my plate.
Double-win.

View attachment 1646383
Click to expand...
Plus they keep the undergrowth in-between the solar panels under control. under the solar panels, you actually have the problem of plants growing faster because of the collected dew on the metal parts of the structure and the shade keeping the moister levels higher than usual.

So the solar panel's give you power and help to grow your next choppie for the braai.
 
nicroets said:
So it's slightly more than one unit of an aging coal plant. And not a whole coal plant. So the headline is wrong.
Click to expand...
An OCGT sure but what unit is 150MW still
 
The plant was built with funding of approximately $1 billion (R18.65 billion)
Construction of the Kenhardt hybrid facility started in July 2022 - completed min-December 2023, i.e. 18 months
Click to expand...
Since it's Independent Power Producer (IPP), the capital $1b/R18.65b does not come from taxpayers.

Eskom pay an agreed upon R/kWh to Scatec based on the bid price.
Batteries can be used to balance the grid by providing fast frequency response, synthetic inertia, and black start.

The "fast frequency response" is where the South Australia Hornsdale Power Reserve made a lot of money.

Base load: see https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rel...sition-to-100-renewable-energy-302032803.html
 
nicroets said:
So it's slightly more than one unit of an aging coal plant. And not a whole coal plant. So the headline is wrong.
Click to expand...
Well no. It specifies an old Eskom coal station. And an old Eskom powerstation is out of service on unplanned maintenance. Hence producing 0MW. Therefor this beats it. A Duracell battery provides more power most of the time than an Eskom power station.

I am also not worried about about cloudy skies. Still less than unplanned maintenance events.
 
Hanno Labuschagne said:
Biggest battery storage system in South Africa now feeding power into Eskom's grid

South Africa's biggest solar battery storage system started feeding power into Eskom's grid in mid-December 2023.

Scatec ASA announced its Kenhardt hybrid solar and battery facility in the Northern Cape officially started producing and supplying electricity to the national grid on 11 December 2023.
Click to expand...
I think the current trend to refer to these solar-pv-installations as a 'hybrid' system is misleading. I was taught a hybrid system would typically be, for instance, a PV & Wind system. Or PV & Bio Gas. The 'power generation source' should by hybrid, for it to be a 'hybrid system'. Most renewable systems will have some storage facility, mostly batteries. Anyway, I guess this unfortunate trend will continue.
 
kwaailight said:
I think the current trend to refer to these solar-pv-installations as a 'hybrid' system is misleading. I was taught a hybrid system would typically be, for instance, a PV & Wind system. Or PV & Bio Gas. The 'power generation source' should by hybrid, for it to be a 'hybrid system'. Most renewable systems will have some storage facility, mostly batteries. Anyway, I guess this unfortunate trend will continue.
Click to expand...
Hybrid being grid-tied and battery backup (off grid). Hybrid can charge from the grid and feed back into the grid.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter