Although the country pulled through the sudden reversal to Stage 6 load shedding in the last week of February relatively quickly, questions around the stability of the grid and South Africa’s electricity generation capacity linger. These were given further credence with the need for load shedding again on the first weekend of March. The initial trip (in February) took down five generating units at Majuba Power Station – 3 600 MW – alongside unplanned capacity losses at four units at Camden and one at Medupi.
Credit is due to Eskom for containing the risk initiated by the Majuba trip and managing the supply system to accommodate this unexpected loss in capacity. However, against this background, on 2 March 2025, the utility issued a statement reporting that Unit 2 at the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station had experienced an unplanned, non-technical trip while operating at full capacity. This when Unit 1 is offline for work to be conducted as part of its Long-Term Operation (LTO) programme. Unit 2 was safely shut down in accordance with its protection protocols, to ensure continued stability and security. It was subsequently brought back online but tripped again – a factor, among others, that contributed to the need for load shedding on the weekend of 7 March.
The return of load shedding is a reminder that overall, the country’s generation capacity remains tightly constrained. It also points to the still growing need for more new and renewable energy generation capacity, and allied to that, the need for development and strengthening of the grid. These concerns, and more, are in focus in this March 2025 issue of Electricity + Control where we feature: Control systems + automation, Renewable energy + industrial sustainability, Measurement + instrumentation, and Transformers, substations + the grid.
In Control systems + automation, Beckhoff Automation shares the application report which sees the use of PC-based control in fertiliser production on an industrial scale. On a farm in the USA, ammonia is extracted from slurry in a large fermenter and processed into ammonium sulphate to provide a valuable fertiliser. Dutch company NSI Byosis has transformed this complex process into a modular system that can be adapted to different operating scales and organic raw materials, and PC-based control from Beckhoff provides the automation solution that enables the scalability in both hardware and software required.
In Renewable energy + industrial sustainability, Paul van Zijl of Starsight Energy considers the possibilities for decarbonisation in Africa. Recognising that Africa faces its own challenges and development priorities, he advocates a holistic, phased and sustainable approach to the continent’s changing energy mix.
The IEA reports that nuclear energy, as a secure and clean power source, is seeing a renewed focus worldwide, and smaller scale projects – small modular reactors in particular – offer a potential growth market to serve increasing electricity demand. However, the IEA cautions that costs, project overruns and financing for new nuclear projects will need to be addressed.
We report too on South Africa’s Nuclear Energy Corporation, outlining Necsa’s refocused strategy, as shared by Group CEO Loyiso Tyabashe at a recent media roundtable. The strategy is structured on six high impact projects that build on South Africa’s long history in nuclear energy technologies and support Necsa’s stabilisation and growth. The aim is to re-establish the country as a frontrunner in this field, contributing to nuclear energy development at home and in international markets.
In Measurement + instrumentation Comtest, master distributor for Fluke in Southern Africa, shares Fluke’s guidelines for best practice in measuring and analysing the performance of PV circuits in solar energy installations.
Worldwide, transmission grids are proving to be a bottleneck in the energy transition, an obstacle to the rollout of new renewable energy. The demand for expanded grid infrastructure and smart grid management is moving faster than utilities responsible for electricity transmission and distribution can adapt. In Transformers, substations + the grid, Herman Mare shares a closer look at smart grid technologies and how they can help utilities to optimise grid performance and enhance overall system resilience, as South Africa transitions towards a cleaner energy mix.
Eplan shares the collaborative work it is doing with a fellow software supplier, entegra, and the southern German distribution grid operator naturenergie netze GmbH, on a pilot project using digital twin engineering to modernise distribution substations and speed up the planning and further development of grid infrastructure.
Trafo Power Solutions highlights that dry-type transformers are being used increasingly in outdoor applications in tough industrial environments – and delivering all the same benefits that have seen them succeed in indoor applications.
And Write @ the back, a team from the law firm Webber Wentzel shares a closer understanding of the possibilities presented by the new ERA Act that supports, among other things, the creation of an open electricity market in South Africa – and some of the challenges still to be resolved.