Bidding for renewables finally opens as powership-heavy ‘emergency’ projects are unveiled

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe released the names of the eight preferred bidders – including three powership projects – selected as part of government’s 2 000-MW ‘emergency’ procurement programme and also launched the much-anticipated fifth bid window (BW5) for the procurement of new wind and solar. However, he resisted growing calls for a raising of the licence-exemption threshold for distributed projects at mines, smelters, factories and farms from 1 MW to 50 MW, indicating instead that the cap would be increased to only 10 MW. This despite arguments that a liberalisation of South Africa’s convoluted licencing regime was the cheapest and quickest way to unlock at least 5 000 MW of new capacity within five years.
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34 South African cities join global move towards setting renewables targets

A new international report shows that 34 South African cities, in which some 15.3-million people live and work, had adopted renewable-energy targets and/or policies by the end of 2020, with Cape Town, eThekwini, Johannesburg and Tshwane having also announced official net-zero targets. The ‘Renewables in Cities Global Status Report’, published by REN21 on March 18, also shows that these South African cities are part of an international trend, with more than 1 300 cities globally having also adopted renewable-energy targets and/or policies by the end of last year.
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AfDB funds $530m Angola electricity project to expand renewable energy, regional connectivity

Development finance institution the African Development Bank (AfDB) has committed $530-million to finance the construction of a 343 km, 400 kV central-south transmission line that will connect the north and south transmission grids in Angola and allow for the distribution of clean energy between the two regions. The north of Angola has a surplus of more than 1 000 MW of mostly renewable power, whereas the south relies on expensive diesel generators, supported by government subsidies.
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Wescoal delivers first own coal sales from Moabsvelden

JSE-listed Wescoal has delivered the first coal from its Moabsvelden mine, in Delmas, Mpumalanga, to power utility Eskom. “The operationalisation of the Moabsvelden project under a difficult operating economic environment represents a significant milestone in the history of Wescoal, since the acquisition of Keaton Energy Holdings in 2017.
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