In South Africa''s capital, Cape Town, and near the Namibian port city of Walvis Bay, so-called microgrids will contribute to a sustainable and emission-free power supply. These systems combine electrolyzers for green hydrogen production with fuel cells for its reconversion to electricity: the microgrids store electricity generated from solar and wind power as hydrogen and convert it back to electricity when needed. In Walvis Bay, a local school will use the oxygen produced during electrolysis to treat wastewater for irrigation purposes in its cultivation areas.
The HyTrA project will ensure a stable power supply for Alu-Cab, a manufacturer of aluminium vehicle bodies for off-road applications, in Cape Town. The company has photovoltaic systems and will utilize the excess energy to produce and store hydrogen locally. This hydrogen will be used for reconversion to electricity whenever no electricity is available from the grid. The lightest and most abundant chemical element, hydrogen, fully exploits its advantages as an energy storage medium here. Renewable electricity will be available precisely when needed, thanks to intermediate storage. Additionally, HyTrA will serve as a showcase for new business models and will be available for training and educational purposes.
HyTra is a corner stone for building bridges between Africa and Europe via hydrogen. Unlike megawatt and gigawatt projects of big investors, this project is designed for hydrogen utilization in Africa, aiming to foster local acceptance and enable value creation through this innovative technology.
Both sides will benefit from this approach of a partnership on equal terms in the long run. Initially, systems and know-how come from Germany, but local partners will become increasingly involved. Industry, academia, and society will have numerous opportunities to utilize this microgrid to derive future utilization or action possibilities.
In particular, the participating medium-sized companies and scientific partners can gather valuable experiences and usage data for further development through the practical application of the system. It also provides a basis for the application-oriented training of urgently needed skilled workers. Appropriate scaling on both sides can turn hydrogen into an export commodity for Africa while substantially supporting Germany''s energy transition. The project participants hope to contribute to equal economic relations and emphasize the great potential for increased collaboration between German and African companies.
HyTra is the first hydrogen pilot project from the Export Initiative of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety (BMUV). The hydrogen-based microgrid is the first of its kind in southern Africa to be used for a specific industrial application. Dr. Ulrike Beyer from Fraunhofer IWU says, "We would like to express our gratitude to all project participants who have passionately made the start of this important project possible, especially Ms. Nilgün Parker from the BMUV."
HygO, another promising hydrogen project, is ready for launch. In addition to the functionalities of the HyTrA system, HygO will also utilize the oxygen generated during electrolysis. The plan is to use it for wastewater treatment.
Starting from the end of 2023, HygO''s first place of operation will be at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST). The final deployment will begin in mid-2024 in a remote area in the Erongo District. HygO will generate electricity and treat water there. Discussions in this sense with the governor of the region have just begun. According to the current plan, a school in Nanibeheb will receive this further-developed microgrid. About 300 students would benefit from reliable electricity during their classes, and the school garden could be irrigated with rainwater of suitable quality as needed. The NUST will provide scientific support for the project.
Fraunhofer IWU, Stellenbosch University, and NUST will cooperate closely in the future and make their findings available to local companies to accelerate the dissemination of hydrogen technologies.
Source: Fraunhofer-GesellschaftFraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology - 2023: Fraunhofer IWU sees great potential in hydrogen projects with partners in Namibia and South Africa
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Bringing a modern, sustainable technology solution to a historically significant site, ABB has provided a microgrid system to integrate solar energy and supply power to Robben Island, the place where Nelson Mandela spent 18 years in prison during the apartheid era. Now a living museum and World Heritage Site, Robben Island lies 9 kilometers off the coast of Cape Town and previously relied on fuel-thirsty, carbon-emitting diesel generators as the only source of electric power.
Essentially a small-scale electric grid, the new microgrid will substantially lower fuel costs and carbon emissions, enabling the island to run on solar power for at least nine months of the year. The microgrid project is part of a sustainable tourism initiative funded by the Department of Tourism in South Africa and was executed for SOLA Future Energy, an engineering, procurement and contracting company.
ABB is a pioneer in microgrids, which because of their size and power are ideal for remote locations like islands, which cannot easily be connected to the main power grid. That is particularly the case with Robben Island, which served as a prison for nearly 400 years because the strong currents around the 4.8 square km island made escape almost impossible.
Robben Island became a symbol of non-violent anti-apartheid resistance during and after the imprisonment of Mr. Mandela, who after his release became president in 1994 and led South Africa through the early years of its transition. The Robben Island Museum, which opened in 1997, is today one of South Africa''s most popular tourist sites. It receives more than 300,000 visitors a year, who come to the island by ferry and are led on guided tours by former political prisoners.
With about 100 museum staff living on the island, which also has a working lighthouse and busy harbor, Robben Island has the electricity requirements of a small village. The microgrid will capture solar energy from a 667-kilowatt peak photovoltaic field - equivalent to the average power needed for about 130 homes - that has been installed on the island.
The system is equipped with ABB solar inverters that convert the variable direct current (DC) output from the solar panels into the alternating current (AC) required for electric utilities. As the main energy source, the microgrid will reduce carbon emissions and the fuel demands of the diesel generators, which previously required around 600,000 liters of fuel a year but now will serve primarily as a back-up.
An ABB Ability™ wireless network connects the solar plant to the microgrid providing reliable and secure communications. An operations center in Cape Town is capable of monitoring and controlling the Microgrid. The remote set-up eliminates the need to maintain a workforce on the island, whose volatile weather can sometimes impede travel to and from the mainland. The wireless solution has also eliminated the need for cable trenches, helping preserve the local habitat on the World Heritage Site.
"ABB''s microgrid solution integrates solar energy and curtails the use of fossil fuels to power Robben Island, bringing substantial cost efficiencies and supporting the Department of Tourism''s efforts to keep the heritage and spirit of this world renowned island alive," said Claudio Facchin, president of ABB''s Power Grids division. "The project supports our focus on microgrids and our ongoing commitment to reduce environmental impact as a partner of choice for enabling a stronger, smarter and greener grid."
ABB''s containerized, modular plug-and-play microgrid solution includes an ABB Ability PowerStore™ battery energy storage system and the dedicated Microgrid Plus control system, whose internet cloud-based capabilities make remote operation possible. The control system enables management of the power supply, including energy storage and balancing of the use of renewable energy and diesel back-up in accordance with changing demand.
ABB has around 40 microgrid installations around the world, across a diverse range of applications serving remote communities, islands, utilities and industrial campuses.
ABB (ABBN: SIX Swiss Ex) is a pioneering technology leader in electrification products, robotics and motion, industrial automation and power grids, serving customers in utilities, industry and transport & infrastructure globally. Continuing a more than 125-year history of innovation, ABB today is writing the future of industrial digitalization and driving the Energy and Fourth Industrial Revolutions. ABB operates in more than 100 countries with about 136,000 employees.
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Motjoadi, V.; Bokoro, P.N.; Onibonoje, M.O. A Review of Microgrid-Based Approach to Rural Electrification in South Africa: Architecture and Policy Framework. Energies 2020, 13, 2193. https://doi /10.3390/en13092193
Motjoadi V, Bokoro PN, Onibonoje MO. A Review of Microgrid-Based Approach to Rural Electrification in South Africa: Architecture and Policy Framework. Energies. 2020; 13(9):2193. https://doi /10.3390/en13092193
Motjoadi, Vinny, Pitshou N. Bokoro, and Moses O. Onibonoje. 2020. "A Review of Microgrid-Based Approach to Rural Electrification in South Africa: Architecture and Policy Framework" Energies 13, no. 9: 2193. https://doi /10.3390/en13092193
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