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SOLAR POWER PLANT PROPOSED FOR THE KALAHARI
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Big Clean Up on Mandela Day
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Dikagisho Jood, Mayor of Gamagara local municipality James Rakoi, Tswangae Hammer, Ingrid Modisamongwe, Caroline Mokgosi and Phenyo assisted in cleaning the Gamagara Crisis Centre near Kathu. Pic : Christoline Paulsen
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Mention the name Nelson Mandela and the world automatically pictures the iconic man who brought freedom and democracy to South Africa. His selfless acts over the years have instilled a sense of humanity and compassion in the countless people he inspires around the world. On his birthday on Sunday 18 July, people were urged to dedicate 67 minutes of their time towards the common good of humanity, representing the 67 years of his life he gave to fighting for human rights. The day was recognised internationally, and was declared Internasional Nelson Mandela Day by the United Nations in November 2009. This year on Nelson Mandela Day, people were invited to join Pikitup and devoted their time to picking up rubbish. Armed with rubbish bags and rubber gloves, participants took to the streets, cleaning up litter that had been dumped. The former President, who turned 92, spent 67 years fighting against social injustice and for equality for all. He spent 27 years in jail for his anti-apartheid activities. According to the Nelson Mandela Foundation, this annual birthday celebration acts as a global call for people to make an effort to better the world around them. It highlights Mr Mandela's charitable work, which includes his foundation, Children's Fund, 46664 and Rhodes Foundation. BuaNews
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JSE-listed Group Five is studying a concentrated solar power (CSP) project near Kathu, in the Northern Cape, which could produce as much as 600 MW of electricity, a company official said on Friday 16 July 2010. A public meeting regarding the proposed Kalahari CSP project was held on Tuesday 20 July 2010, at the Sishen Golf Club, which interested and affected parties attended. The public meeting formed part of the scoping phase of the environmental impact assessment, which was being conducted by engineering consultan-cy WSP Environmental. The pro-posed CSP plant would be situated on a 1 600-ha farm some 10 km north of the town of Kathu. Group Five said that it proposed to develop the parabolic trough project in four stages, each stage producing between 125 MW and 150 MW. There would also be space to accommodate 25 MW of solar photovoltaic electricity generators. Group Five Renewable Energy Project Developer Chris Carnegie ex-plained that the company was still in the early days of investigating the pro-ject, and was engaging with stake-holders, on what was considered a "very exciting" project. It was expected that the pre-feasibility study would be completed in September, once the draft scoping report was completed, and had been made available for public review for 30 days. The CSP project would require a suitable grid connection to link the power to the national grid. The Eskom Ferrum substation was close to the site, and a transmission line between the two may need to be constructed. Group Five has done a concept study for the Kalahari CSP project, which included a site assessment, using various criteria to select the preferred site from several alternative sites that were considered. The issues that were earmarked as potentially relevant for stakeholders were water supply, air quality or dust contamination, housing, accommodation and labour, and safety and security. A weather station has been erected on site, which would supplement satellite data required to take the project to a bankable phase. The solar resource map of South Africa has shown that the Northern Cape region has a high concentration of solar energy, and ranks among the best solar regions in the world. The Kalahari CSP project was described as having the potential to make a significant contribution to electricity stabilisation, thus improving the reserve margin of electricity generation capacity in South Africa, as well as reducing transmission losses, and the likelihood of load shedding. Currently, the largest CSP plant, at 100 MW, is operational in Spain, while CSP plants in the region of 250 MW were under development in the US. Engineering News
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