The Oppenheimer Memorial Trust has announced that the first winner of its New Frontiers Research Award is University of Cape Town (UCT) physicist, Dr James Keaveney. The trust created the award to help reinvigorate research excellence in South Africa (in 2021/22 the country spent only 0.62% of its GDP on research and development; in comparison, for example, in 2022 Türkiye spent 1.32%, Australia 1.66%, Portugal 1.7%, China 2.43%, Taiwan 3.96%, and South Korea 5.21%). The award has a value of R7.5-million, which will be disbursed over five years. Keaveney is a particle physicist who has spent his career studying the fundamental particles and forces that make up all the matter in the universe. He has done so working with the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (better known as CERN) and its Large Hadron Collider, leading international research teams. While there he developed AI algorithms, and leading-edge detectors.

Industrial technology company Wärtsilä has signed a five-year maintenance agreement covering 169.5 MW of power generation for two Moroccan power plants owned and operated by Moroccan utility Office National de l’Electricité et de l’Eau potable (ONEE). This agreement is a renewal of a previous five-year contract for the power plants in Tan Tan and Dakhla, in southern Morocco. Each of these two emergency plants operates with Wärtsilä 46 engines, the company says.

Ford South Africa (SA) has celebrated the assembly of the one-millionth Ranger at its Silverton plant in Pretoria. While the first million bakkies has taken 24 years, the second million is set to happen before the decade is out, should production continue at the current rate of roughly 200 000 units a year.

Following the Competition Commission recommendation that the Competition Commission approve Vision consortium’s proposed takeover of embattled sugar producer Tongaat Hulett, industry body SA Canegrowers hopes the consortium will honour the R526-million in outstanding levies owed by Tongaat to the sugar industry. The overdue payment of industry levies has put canegrowers and other sugar industry members, particularly small-scale farmers, at risk.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has identified the ten technologies with the greatest potential to make a positive impact in the world in the next three to five years. The WEF unpacks these technologies in a ‘Top 10 Emerging Technologies’ report, published on June 25, explaining that technology enables improved decision-making through understanding the factors that shape the future, and revolutionising connectivity.

Rand Water’s extensive, planned water reticulation system maintenance continues, impacting various City of Johannesburg (CoJ) water reservoirs and towers which are interlinked with Rand Water. In line with this, Johannesburg Water has been issuing regular alerts to residents about the planned maintenance since early June 2024, said CoJ Member of the Mayoral Committee for Environment Infrastructure Services Councillor Jack Sekwaila.

South Africa is risking a $9.3-billion climate finance pact by delaying the closing of a number of coal-fired power plants, a panel appointed by the country’s environment minister said. In an agreement known as the Just Energy Transition Partnership, South Africa won the bulk of the pledges from some of the world’s richest nations in loans, grants and guarantees in 2021. They offered to help the country reduce its dependence on coal for power generation on condition it phased out a number of its older plants using the dirtiest fuel. The worst power cuts on record last year prompted Eskom, the State power utility, to delay shutting down the facilities. Eskom has said it has decided to postpone the decommissioning of three power plants — Grootvlei, Hendrina and Camden — until 2030. A unit in the South African presidency earlier this month made a presentation about the nation’s new plans to the World Bank-linked Climate Investment Funds, which is considering allocating $500-million to South Africa. Financing from the fund could trigger a further $2-billion in investment from other partners. The content and outcome of those discussions haven’t been disclosed.

Eskom reports that it has appointed five transformer companies to a panel of suppliers that will compete for upcoming contracts for a total of 101 large-scale transformers that will be installed over the coming four years as part of its Transmission Development Plan (TDP). The suppliers were not immediately named in the statement, with Eskom saying only that most of the five suppliers were “local with an international footprint” and had been selected following an open tender issued on March 14.

Rolls-Royce Power Systems, the Germany-based business of UK-based global major power and propulsion systems group Rolls-Royce, has announced that it is leading a consortium of German companies and research institutes, in a three-year joint project to develop a highly-efficient hydrogen combustion engine to drive stationary combined heat and power systems. The engine would be a “first-of-a-kind” development, stated the group. “We are convinced that combustion engines will remain an essential part of the provision of a reliable energy supply during the energy transition,” explained Rolls-Royce Power Systems CEO Dr Jörg Stratmann. “We are making them climate-friendly with sustainable fuels. That’s why we at Rolls-Royce are investing in the development of the next generation hydrogen engines.”

In its audited consolidated results for the financial year ended March 31, investment holding and management company Invicta Holdings reports that its operating profit grew by 8% to R702-million, with cash generated by operations increasing by 28% to R818-million, with a focus on reducing debt. “Notwithstanding the challenging environment, we are extremely proud of how our businesses performed during the year. In particular, the resilience of our management teams and the robust nature of our consumable parts businesses shone through,” expresses Invicta CEO Steven Joffe.