Business organisation Business Unity South Africa (Busa) applauds the statement made by Eskom CEO André de Ruyter during a webinar on February 2, in favour of lifting the licencing exemption threshold for electricity generation. “Busa Energy structures have considered the analysis conducted by Meridian Economics and the survey conducted by EE Business Intelligence. We support the findings that up to 5 000 MW potential of private distributed generation could be unlocked if the licencing exemption threshold is lifted to 50 MW. “In the current circumstances, this is material incremental capacity that could be sourced from the private sector,” says Busa VP Martin Kingston.
Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter says the State-owned utility is fully supportive of moves by large customers to develop embedded generation plants to power their operations, as well as growing calls to lift the licensing threshold from 1 MW to 50 MW so as to accelerate these investments. South Africa, he told participants in an ENSafrica webinar on Tuesday, faced an ongoing supply crunch that could not be closed by the procurement of 13 800 MW of new utility scale capacity alone, as catered for by the Ministerial determinations gazetted to unlock investments in line with the Integrated Resource Plan.
The Southern African Development Community’s (SADC’s) Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (Sacreee) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) to accelerate decentralised renewable energy deployment in Southern Africa.
The two organisations will also cooperate on policy development, capacity building programmes and regional events aimed at attracting investments to the region.
Market dynamics for embedded generation projects in South Africa have shifted materially over the past 12 months as an increasing number of mines and power-heavy industrial firms moved to install renewable-energy facilities at a time when government is also starting to resume utility scale procurement. In fact, Cresco executive director Robert Futter, who is advising several energy intensive firms on their power generation projects, reports that, as of the first quarter of 2021, there has been a decisive swing from a “buyer’s to a seller’s market”.
Environmental Affairs Minister Barbara Creec said she rejected pleas for leniency from senior executives at the country’s two biggest air polluters as she responded to a lawsuit that says her office has breached constitutional rights to clean air. In a 260-page answering affidavit to a lawsuit filed against her by environmental non profits she argued that while the country’s developmental needs must be balanced against environmental concerns, she had nevertheless acted to try and improve air quality.
Binational organisation the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) has reiterated and clarified its Covid-19-impacted stakeholder engagement process amid preparations to start building the multibillion-dollar 2 400 MW Batoka Gorge hydropower project on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The cross-border hydroelectric facility is expected to produce 10 215 GWh/y of electricity, which will be shared between Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is envisioned that the project will be completed in 2026, after starting construction in mid-2022.
Renewable power producer Scatec on February 1 confirmed that it had received all necessary approvals for its $1.16-billion buyout of SN Power from Norfund and that all suspensive conditions have been met. “This acquisition forms a very important part of our broadened growth strategy, with ambitions to become a global player in solar, hydro, wind and storage solutions, and an integrator of high-value infrastructure solutions,” said Scatec CEO Raymond Carlsen.
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