With the national energy strategy currently under review and keeping in mind Eskom’s vision for the last 90 years to provide the lowest/least cost energy for the growth and development of South Africa, the CSIR/Eskom steering committee is geared to come up with a strategy that will drive the partnership going forward.
Prathaban Moodley (Eskom); Amal Khatri (Eskom); John Isaac (CSIR); Dr Ntsibane Ntlatlapa (CSIR).
Eighteen months ago, the CSIR and Eskom entered into a bilateral agreement and now it is time “to change gear and move it up a notch,” said Barry MacColl, General Manager: Research Testing and Development: Eskom, at a feedback session held on 26 May at the CSIR International Convention Centre.
The feedback session was attended by CSIR/Eskom steering committee members, technical champions and researchers with the purpose of providing feedback from the latest steering committee review and executive meeting convened on the progress of the CSIR/Eskom strategic partnership.
In her presentation, Berenice Lue Marais of the CSIR Strategic Alliances and Communication group, indicated that the CSIR/Eskom steering committee met with the principals: Dr Steve Lennon – Eskom’s Group Executive: Sustainability; Dr Rachel Chikwamba – CSIR Group Executive: Strategic Alliances and Communication; and Dr Molefi Motuku – CSIR Group Executive: Research and Development, before the partnership review session.
MacColl said it was evident that the relationship between the two organisations was going well, but “we are getting into the performance phase and the fundamental feedback we have been given by our principals is that we need to be more strategic”. He added, “I believe that the two organisations have a big voice in the energy space, thus we need to elevate the level of engagement to address strategic imperatives and look more broadly at national imperatives rather than bottom-up projects.”
Rachel added, “Barry said in his speech that it is time to up the game a notch, several notches in fact. So the question and the challenge that I put to the room is that we have ongoing projects, but what is it that we need to do as long-term strategic initiatives in the energy space?”
From left to right - Dr Dawid Oosthuizen (CSIR); Barry MacColl (Eskom); Berenice Lue Marais (CSIR); Dr Pat Manders (CSIR); Dr Zaid Kimmie (CSIR); Dr Francois Engelbrecht (CSIR).
According to Berenice, the CSIR/Eskom strategic partnership dovetails well with the CSIR’s efforts to define its energy focus and adds that Eskom’s inputs into the strategic focus areas will feed into the CSIR’s future plans in energy. In the interim the CSIR/Eskom steering committee has made significant progress in developing areas of cooperation:
- Demand-side management and energy efficiency/renewable supply site options (RESO);
- Energy storage;
- Integrated resource scenarios;
- Climate change;
- Smart grids;
- Clean coal technologies;
- Water; and
- Laser cladding/refurbishment.
To ensure meaningful progress and achievement within the ambit of the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA), the committee has also put into place guidelines to create an enabling environment; ensuring alignment, governance, responsible management of resources, as well as an efficient and effective process.
- Test beds for reliable smart city machine-to-machine communication;
- Home energy management optimisation;
- Wave energy site selection study (PhaseII);
- Thermal desalination;
- Regional air quality modelling over the Waterberg priority area;
- Laser-based refurbishment of turbine blades;
- Cellphone electricity theft; and
- Energy storage (batteries and super capacitors).
Berenice said, “Steve is very happy with the progress made. We have been to each other’s facilities; seen each other’s scientific and operations infrastructure; exposed our scientists and technical staff to each other; and we understand the two organisations business models. We have also put in place a framework to flow R&D in specific areas. Now, we are looking at moving to the next step.”
News contributed by Mapulane Mokhoantle
06 June 2014
