Page 48 - Energize November 2021

VIEWS AND OPINION

medium sized companies have also been The latest auction has resulted in great prices for consumers and the majority
successful. of these projects will be built. Although a small number of international companies
And lead bidders represent are prominent, competition is still fierce. There’s a place for local partners and smart
only one part of the project value medium sized companies.
chain. Over the years, an extensive As these renewable energy auctions are rolled out, coupled with complementary
ecosystem of service providers and flexible resources, the country can consign power cuts to history.
suppliers has grown around these
projects. In addition, lead bidders Acknowledgement
aren’t the only shareholders in This article was first published by The Conversation and is republished here in terms of the
these companies. South African Creative Commons licence.
shareholders, including black
economic empowerment partners Send your comments to rogerl@nowmedia.co.za
and community trusts, own 49,4%, on
average, in these projects.
A third claim is: “you can’t compare
the tariffs of these intermittent
renewables with that of ‘baseload’, like
coal or nuclear”. visualize
Let’s address a few issues here. design
Renewable supply is variable – not
intermittent. Power system operators simulate
have become good at forecasting when
the sun won’t shine, or the wind won’t verify
blow. That means that the flexible supply solve
to complement renewable energy can be
predicted.
Anyway, “baseload” is an outdated
concept. It comes from highly centralised
power systems where the cheapest
electricity was produced by massive
coal or nuclear plants that couldn’t
be switched on or off quickly. Cheap
renewables are challenging this PSCAD
paradigm. Future power systems will be The Professional’s Tool for Power Systems Simulation
dominated by these variable resources
backed up by storage and flexible PSCAD is a fast, accurate, and easy-to-use power systems simulator
resources such as gas or hydropower. for the design and verification of all types of power systems.
South Africa’s 2019 integrated PSCAD is ideal for the analysis of electrical distortions and transients involving:
resource plan is premised on supplying • large non-linear industrial loads
• transformers and saturation
reliable power. Its least-cost scenarios • capacitor bank switching
all pick wind, solar PV plus a flexible • power electronic drives
resource to meet future power demand • assymetrical faults
• FACTS/HVAC systems
securely. • custom power
• arc furnace flicker.
Going forward A product of 25 years of power systems simulation research, PSCAD is
There are other concerns around the visual design tool of choice at over 1000 commercial, industrial,
the country’s Renewable Energy and research organizations worldwide.
Independent Power Producers For an evaluation copy of PSCAD, contact us via email at info@pscad.com
Procurement Programme auctions.
Maximising and broadening local
benefits is important for the wider
acceptance of this programme, which
cumulatively has resulted in R250 billion T +1 204 989 1240 F +1 204 453 5074
www.pscad.com
(about US$16 billion) investment. But
concerns should be based on facts.

PSCAD Full Colour, Half-page Island Advertisement
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