Unit 2 of the Koeberg nuclear power station on October 21 successfully completed its twenty-fourth outage since it first started to generate electricity. The unit is synchronised onto the electricity grid and will load up to full capacity by next week, power utility Eskom reports.
The Competition Tribunal has dismissed the South African Energy Forum’s (SAEF’s) application to intervene in proceedings regarding the proposed large merger between Thabong Coal and South32 South Africa Coal Holdings (South African Energy Coal or SAEC).
Emerging domestic natural gas and helium producer Renergen’s re-drill of the inclined drilling programme (referred to as P2V2) at its flagship Virginia gas project, in the Free State, is expected to be at, or be close to, target by the end of the first week of November. In a statement on October 21, the JSE- and ASX-listed company confirmed that the re-drill had completed setting of the intermediate casing and that it was on track to drill through to the base of the Karoo and the targeted gas-bearing fault structures.
The second meeting to establish a stakeholder-based Ministerial Renewable Energy Sector Engagement Forum (Resef) and associated Resef Working Group was held online on October 20, during which attendees voted overwhelmingly to ratify the structure of the forum and the names proposed by the renewable energy sector stakeholders for the seats on the forum. The ultimate intended purpose of the Resef is to establish a legitimate, ongoing platform of communication and engagement between the renewable energy sector and the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) and Minister Gwede Mantashe around identified renewable energy issues, in the national interest.
State-owned electricity utility Eskom is warning that a significant and accelerated expansion of South Africa’s grid infrastructure, beyond that catered for by its current R118-billion investment plan to 2030, is required to integrate the 30 GW of mainly wind and solar generators that will have to be introduced by the end of the decade to ensure security of supply. Group executive for transmission Segomoco Scheppers confirmed on Tuesday that Eskom’s grid-related investment plans had been “moderated” in light of financial constraints and that a significant amount of additional investment would be required to accommodate the new generation outlined in the Integrated Resources Plan of 2019 (IRP2019).
Eskom has launched a fresh legal bid to ensure that the automatic reintroduction of a R23-billion equity injection to its allowable revenue in 2021/22, as granted by the High Court in July, is not negated by the fact that the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has been granted leave to appeal of the judgment. In her July 28 judgment, Judge Fayeeza Kathree-Setiloane ruled that Nersa had acted illegally in 2019 when it removed a R69-billion government equity injection from the State-owned utility’s allowable revenue when adjudicating Eskom’s fourth multiyear price determination (MYPD4).
Eskom said on Monday work was set to resume on the final leg of an approximately 123 km transmission power line running through the uMgungundlovu and uThukela district municipalities of KwaZulu-Natal province. In a statement, the state power utility said final construction of the 47 km leg of this power line would start from the existing Venus substation in Estcourt and end at the existing Ariadne substation in the provincial capital Pietermaritzburg.
South Korea’s State-owned power utility Kepco will either cancel its investment in coal-driven South African independent power producer Thabametsi, or transition the project to gas. A statement issued on Friday by the South Africa desk of the Global Strategic Communications Council (GSCC), an international network in the field of climate and energy, said Kepco announced on Thursday night it would no longer invest in overseas coal projects, a move which would also impact the Sual 2 venture in the Philippines.
European photovoltaic (PV) company Scatec Solar will be acquiring 100% of the shares in hydropower developer and independent power producer (IPP) SN Power from Norwegian investment fund Norfund for just over $1.1-million. The acquisition forms an important part of Scatec’s broadened growth strategy, with an ambition to become a global large-scale player in solar, hydro, wind and storage solutions, and an integrator of high-value infrastructure solutions. Scatec and SN Power have a unique and complementary portfolio of assets, geographical footprint and capabilities, and will together hold a large project pipeline across solar, hydro, wind and storage, the companies noted in an October 16 statement.
Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has gazetted amendments to the electricity regulations for new electricity generation capacity, opening the way for “municipalities in good financial standing to develop their own power generation projects”. The Gazette notice amends the Electricity Regulations on New Generation Capacity in terms of Section 35(4) of the Electricity Regulation Act (ERA), of 2006, and has been published a day after President Cyril Ramaphosa released government’s Reconstruction and Recovery Plan, which lists the rapid expansion of energy generation capacity as a top priority.
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