POWER July 2015 - 16

4. No axis. The Vortex wind turbine comprises
five main parts: a foundation, a carbon-fiber
rod, a generation system, a tuning
system, and a mast, which is the light circular
section made of fiberglass and carbon fiber.
The mast acts as a wind breaker that generates
the oscillatory movement resulting from
the vortex shedding effect. Courtesy: Vortex
Bladeless
5. More nuclear needed. Eskom's
1.8-GW Koeberg Power Station in Cape Town
is Africa's only nuclear power plant. It supplies
about 5% of South Africa's total power
needs. To alleviate crippling power shortages,
the country is looking to add 9.6 GW of new
nuclear power to its grid. Courtesy: Eskom
Majola noted on May 19 that the Cabinet
had since February 2015 established a
" War Room " chaired by the deputy president
to oversee interventions required
to manage the electricity supply and demand
and ensure bottlenecks are tackled.
South Africa is committed to providing
universal access by 2025 for all its people,
she said.
-Sonal Patel, associate editor
technology's developers. It also saves 51%
on operating costs and 53% on manufacturing
costs.
" Of course, it won't be immune to fatigue, "
they added. " The wind can cause
twisting and displacement of the structure,
primarily in the elastic rod, especially in
the lower section that has to withstand
greater forces. However, studies carried out
by the company confirm that, the stress on
the rod is far from the working limit of the
materials, that is, carbon fiber. "
According to computational modeling
estimates, the operational lifetime of the
installation is between 32 and 96 years,
it said. Other attributes that could make
it more attractive than conventional horizontal-axis
wind turbines are that it is
silent-it oscillates at a frequency of below
20 Hz-and because it has no rotating
blades, it is safer for birds.
The company received a substantial
grant in 2012 to develop a working prototype.
Last year, Vortex started its first
field test in Avila, Spain, and it said it
is " very close " to finalizing a commercial
pilot. It is also working on a number of
small-scale wind turbine concepts from
100 W to 4 kW. It hopes to release a 1-MW
device by 2018.
-Sonal Patel, associate editor
South Africa Outlines
Plans to Tackle Power
Crisis
South Africa's energy minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson
has pledged urgent resolution
of the nation's worsening power crisis.
In her annual budget and policy speech in
16
Cape Town on May 19, Joemat-Pettersson
said the country was rushing to finalize
its much-awaited Integrated Energy Plan,
which, when approved by the Cabinet, will
delineate South Africa's future energy mix
and prioritize policy interventions.
South Africa will commence a nuclear
procurement process for 9.6 GW of new reactors
mid-year, and the first unit could
come online by 2023, she said (Figure 5).
As part of regional energy collaboration,
it is also partnering with the Democratic
Republic of the Congo in the development
of the Grand Inga project. The two countries
are formalizing the structure of the
business model. " Private sector investors
will have an opportunity for collaborating
with government on this massive project, "
she said.
Along with new coal-fired generation-
for which bid submission is currently ongoing-South
Africa plans to expand its
natural gas sector by about 3 GW. " This is
a significant step forward in the diversification
of our energy mix, " she said.
Rolling blackouts around the country
have curbed mining and manufacturing,
limiting the country's economic growth.
South Africa's Department of Energy
says the nation-Africa's second-biggest
economy-has enough installed
generation capacity for all its needs,
but that " sizeable " power capacity is
currently unavailable due to a variety
of factors, including unplanned breakdowns,
aging infrastructure, and a poor
outage maintenance program.
State utility Eskom, which provides
95% of the nation's power, is reportedly
pushing to achieve the necessary reserve
margins that will enable it to conduct required
maintenance without the need for
load shedding.
Deputy Minister of Energy Thembisile
www.powermag.com
POWER | July 2015
Vietnam Sees Start of
Major Private Coal Plant
The 1,240-MW coal-fired Mong Duong 2
power plant in Vietnam-the country's
first new private sector power plant to
be commissioned in the past 10 years-
began commercial operations on May 11,
six months ahead of schedule (Figure
6). AES Corp. built the plant on a buildoperate-transfer
(BOT) basis. It has a
25-year power purchase agreement with
state-owned Electricity of Vietnam and a
25-year coal supply agreement with Vinacomin,
another state-owned entity. AES
has a 51% equity interest in the $1.95
billion power plant, while PSC Energy
Global Co., Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary
of POSCO Power Corp., and Stable
Investment Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary
of China Investment Corp., own
30% and 19%, respectively.
According to the Vietnam Institute of
Energy and the National Center for SocioEconomic
Information and Forecast, Vietnam's
power demand and gross domestic
product are expected to grow by 10.5%
and 6.5%, respectively, over the next five
years. The government has future plans
to increase the country's installed capacity
by more than 60 GW over the same
period. For more about Vietnam's power
ambitions, see " Vietnam Works Hard to
Power Economic Growth " in POWER's
March 2012 issue.
-Sonal Patel, associate editor
6. Private venture. AES Corp. put the
1,240-MW coal-fired Mong Duong 2 plant online
in May. Courtesy: AES Corp.
http://www.powermag.com
POWER July 2015

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