This paper presents the design of flywheel rotor prototypes developed to enhance rural energisation in sub-Saharan Africa. The flywheel rotors are made from locally available fibre and epoxy resin. The profiles were designed using novel shape profiles based on Berger, Porat and Stodola’s...

Energy efficiency is one of the most potent and cost effective ways of meeting the demands of sustainable development. It has in fact been referred to as the best energy resource. Way back in 2005 the South African Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) published its Energy Efficiency Strategy...

The challenges faced by the socio-political economy of South Africa when attempting to diversify away from a legacy of over a century of near exclusive dependence on cheap and abundant coal for its energy needs, particularly electricity, are discussed in this paper. Existing government policy...

South Africa has a highly centralized network, in which almost all electricity is produced in Mpumalanga and transmitted throughout South Africa. In the case of the Western Cape, electricity has to be transmitted over 800–1370 km. This generates losses and entails high transmission costs....