Green Energy

Municipalities want a bigger role in the energy future. They want to be allowed to generate their own electricity and to purchase directly from independent power producers.

This was an overwhelming call from those that attended 2018 South African Local Government Association (SALGA) Energy Summit in Sandton last week. The summit brought under one roof, mayors, municipal managers, councillors, municipal officials and different players in the energy and non-governmental sectors under the theme: Defining the Energy Future of Local Government”.

Speaking during a roundtable discussion focusing on the main theme, Polokwane Mayor Thembi Nkadimeng said legislation and regulations were prohibiting municipalities from entering into their own power generation and power acquisition transactions. She said the Department of Energy was sitting with 14 applications from municipalities that want to be licensed to generate their own power or purchase directly from independent power producers closer to them.

Nkadimeng said her own municipality was extremely frustrated because it had spent R110 million providing electricity infrastructure to 24 villages within its jurisdiction but couldn’t recoup this money in full through tariffs because it is not licensed to generate or transmit electricity, but to only distribute and reticulate using a tariff structure that is controlled by Eksom.

“I have provided infrastructure but I cannot collect from those I have provided infrastructure to,” she said.

Xola Phakati, Mayor of the Buffalo City Municipality, said reliance on electricity generated by Eskom’s coal fired power stations that are concentrated in Mpumalanga and Limpopo was a massive disadvantage for municipalities such as his which have to pay more for that power to be transmitted thousands of kilometres.

“Our electricity is generated in Mpumalanga and transmitted to the Eastern Cape. We pay more for that, our geographical location is a disadvantage for us,” he said.

A proliferation of informal settlements within their jurisdiction also meant that they experienced a high number of illegal connections, resulting in massive losses for the municipality which still has to be pay Eskom for the electricity that is lost as a result.

“There has to be a balance because municipalities rely on electricity for revenue. Structural deficiencies and low growth means that they can’t meet their social obligations while accumulating debt to the generator, Eskom. How are we going to mitigate the effects of this stagnant growth in our economy?”

But Eskom board member Jackie Modisane insisted that there was a place for the state entity in the future energy transition. She said there were 6.4 million electrified households within Eskom’s mandate, most of them in rural areas. The utility was also faced with a R30 billion payment backlog from municipalities.

“The energy sector is undergoing change driven by global transformation opportunities and challenges. The way we produce, transmit and consume is changing. You can bring in others, but Eskom should be a player and not displaced,” she said.

Modisane said a case in point was the amount that Eksom charged for power. Whereas its rates were around 80c per KW, independent power producers were coming in at around R2.05c per KW, making Eskom’s power competitive. But that didn’t mean that there was no room for other players in the energy sector to participate, but this would depend on changes to regulations and the adaptation of a viable business model for all.

“Let us do private participation in a way that is inclusive, in a way that jobs are being created, localisation is happening and industries are created. Also, people must be skilled, the investment by the state should profit not just a few people but done in a responsible way. When we bring in the private sector, let us not discard Eskom, we can actually co-exist. Eskom has a role to play.”

SALGA President Parks Tau said the organisation had been negotiating with national government over many years on the issue of municipalities generating and reticulating their own electricity and had even suggested that a declaratory order be sought through the courts to enable this to happen. He said national government had asked for all avenues to be explored before resorting to the courts. But SALGA was now ready for the courts to become final arbiter on the matter.

“The SALGA NEC (National Executive Committee) has resolved that maybe it’s time we go for a declaratory order so we can get the courts adjudicating on matters that are in dispute,” he said.

On the energy future and whether Eskom had a role to play, Tau said the best method was to look at the developmental interests of the country from generation, transmission and distribution to determine which would be the best suited model for economic growth and participation.

“We have Eskom; it has powerplants, a balance sheet, personnel (and) bonds that we should be worried about. How do we resolve the problem? We must start with everything and say where does Eskom fit into the puzzle.”

Gauteng MEC for Infrastructure Development Jacob Mamabolo called for the introduction of a completely new energy regime. He said worries being raised that the introduction of private players and allowing municipalities and individuals to generate their own power would destroy Eskom were unfounded.

“How will it do that? It’s precisely because of this fear that we are unable to move as a country. I’m of the view that it won’t. It’s in the best interests of Eskom to review its operating model so that it can be efficient while sustainable.

“Communities can establish solar farms and sell (excess energy) back to the grid, generating their own revenue,” said Mamabolo.

Batteries that generate and pass electrons through chemical reactions involving a pure lithium metal conductor and ambient air have a big drawback in the form of a life cycle that typically only lasts a month or so, but researchers with Argonne National Lab, with some help from some figures in the world of academia, have figured out how to stop many of the side reactions that occur during the main energy-producing reaction, making the batteries last far longer. In testing, the batteries held up to hundreds of full charge and discharge cycles. Given that they can hold about five times more energy than comparably sized lithium-ion cells, this could mean smartphone, tablet, and laptop batteries that last five times longer on a charge than current tech, and can maintain capacity and battery health for years, among other benefits.

To be specific about how it all works, a basic understanding of lithium-air batteries is required. A pure lithium conductor uses oxygen from the air around it in a reaction that generates electrons. Since most of the battery’s reactive component cycles in and out rather than being permanently locked in, the batteries weigh less, are less fragile, and can last longer when compared to lithium-ion batteries. The problem is in the side reactions that occur as the lithium filters the oxygen from the air. Carbon dioxide and other gases in the air can break the lithium down and insert impurities, but that’s exactly the quality that researchers exploited to create a longer-lasting battery. They ran a few charge cycles in an environment packed with nothing but pure carbon dioxide, and this ended up coating the lithium inside the battery in a fine mesh of crystals that acted as a filter, reducing the amount of non-oxygen elements that touched the lithium. Paired with an electrolyte made from a few organic chemicals, the new setup ended up slowing down wear so much that some 99.97% of the original, undiluted lithium content was still present and pure after a cycle, ready for another reaction.

The implications here are pretty obvious. Not only will such batteries last far longer on a charge and in total life than what’s in common use now, but their open design will allow for slimmer, smaller gadgets. The open-air design of the batteries’ insides will almost certainly make explosions a thing of the past, since those happen due to thermal runaway that occurs when the anode and cathode of a traditional battery meet head-on due to a breach in the wall between them. It’s worth noting that testing was done in an air simulation rather than open air, and a lot of information is left out of the white paper, possibly indicating that there’s some element going wrong that’s not being disclosed. In any case, this new tech is just research for now, and if it does take off, shouldn’t be expected to be in consumer devices for at least a few years.

Lithium-metal batteries can take up to 10 times more charge than conventional lithium-ion batteries. The reason why they haven’t been commercialized so far is that lithium is deposited unevenly on the electrodes while charging and discharging. This buildup cuts the lives of these batteries too short to make them viable, and more importantly can cause the batteries to short-circuit and catch fire.

Now, researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have developed a solution to this problem in the form of a graphene-oxide-coated ‘nanosheet’ that, when placed in between the two electrodes of a lithium-metal battery, prevents uneven plating of lithium and allows the battery to safely function for hundreds of charge–discharge cycles.

“Our findings demonstrate that two-dimensional materials—in this case, graphene oxide—can help regulate lithium deposition in such a way that extends the life of lithium-metal batteries,” said Reza Shahbazian-Yassar, associate professor of mechanical and industrial engineering in the UIC College of Engineering.

Lithium-metal batteries are so useful because of their high-energy density and relatively light weights compared with conventional batteries. However, over the course of many charge–discharge cycles, lithium builds up unevenly on the battery’s lithium-metal electrode in a branching or ‘dendritic’ pattern, and ultimately causes the battery to go dead. If the dendrites grow through the electrolyte solution and make contact with the other electrode, then the battery may experience a catastrophic event—in other words, explode or catch fire.

In lithium-ion batteries, a separator, usually made of a porous polymer or glass ceramic fibers, is placed in the electrolyte. The separator allows lithium ions to flow through while keeping the other components blocked, which prevents electrical shorts that can lead to fires.

Reza and colleagues used a modified separator in a lithium-metal battery to modulate the flow of lithium ions and control the rate of lithium deposition, with the aim of preventing dendrites from forming. They spray-coated a fiberglass separator with graphene oxide, producing a nanosheet.

Using various imaging techniques, the researchers showed that when the nanosheet was used in a lithium-metal battery, a uniform film of lithium formed on the lithium electrode’s surface. As noted by graduate student Tara Foroozan, this film was shown to improve battery function and improve the overall safety of the battery.

Consumers buy electric cars for a plethora of favorable reasons; they’re cheaper to maintain, can charge up at their home, and some take satisfaction that they can be greener to drive. Another reason tends to be the cheap cost to actually charge the vehicle when driving out and about. In a roundtable discussion with GearBrain, a Porsche board member confirmed that the brand would not be following Tesla’s lead in offering free access to its fast-charging network, but instead following a pricing model similar to the cost of gasoline.

Porsche is working hard to bring its Mission E project to fruition. What could easily be a direct competitor in the brand new luxury electric sedan market, the Mission E offers a car with similar speed and range as the Tesla Model S at a very competitive entry price point. But what it won’t be offering in-line with Tesla is the cost to charge the vehicle at a branded fast-charging network.

You see, Porsche’s 350-kilowatt charging station provides a much-needed service to the electric car scene: rapid charging. The ability to charge its Mission E vehicles from empty to over 300 miles of range in just 15 minutes is substantially faster than what any charging network, branded or not, can offer the market today. Unfortunately, it seems that Porsche isn’t in a hurry to roll out its network at a fast pace, as news has only sprung up about guaranteed placement at dealerships and not if the Germans plan on rolling out this technology to standalone locations.

Porsche’s Deputy Chairman of its executive board, Lutz Meschke, reportedly confirmed that Porsche will be aiming to turn its fast-charging network into a moneymaker. The luxury brand will aim to price its electricity rates at a “similar amount to gasoline.” The 2018 Porsche Panamera has a 23.7-gallon fuel tank, meaning that to feed it 93-octane fuel will cost around $74 to fill up at the national average of $3.125 per gallon. The Panamera’s EPA rating is around 24 miles per gallon or 568 miles per tank. With the cost of fuel factored in, this brings the consumption cost to around $0.13 per mile. Porsche hasn’t noted how large the Mission E’s battery will be but has said that its platform will provide around 310 miles of range per charge. We can estimate a 100-kilowatt-hour battery pack in place to provide a similar specification to Tesla’s Model S 100D, potentially bringing the cost to charge around $0.40 per kWh in order to be comparable with the Panamera’s cost per mile of gasoline.

Unlike Porsche’s decision to price its charging network alongside the cost of filling up at the pump, Tesla states that its supercharging network “will never be a profit center” despite the decision to raise its Supercharger pricing across the United States. Currently, Tesla charges an average of $0.226 per kWh to top off any of its cars not grandfathered into free lifetime Supercharging. New Tesla owners are provided a free annual credit of 400 kWh, which is enough to travel around 1,000 miles.

Right now, all cost estimates are speculation until Porsche releases its pricing closer to the launch of the Mission E in 2019. With plans to electrify its lineup, the automaker has already set aside over $7.4 billion to put towards moving to battery power. No details have been announced on Porsche’s plan to integrate with existing charging networks for on-the-go charging, or if it plans to build its own charging network to accommodate its high-speed chargers. One thing is certain; some owners might not mind paying a premium for 15 minute charge times on the road.