Aref II secures almost half of targeted capitalisation

The Africa Renewable Energy Fund (Aref) II has concluded its first close at €125-million, following a joint investment of €17.5-million from The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa and the Climate Technology Fund through the African Development Bank (AfDB).

Aref II, a successor to the original fund, is a ten-year closed-ended renewable energy private equity fund with a $300-million target capitalisation.

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100 MW reform ‘precursor’ to new market-driven electricity supply industry – De Ruyter

Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter has described the decision to lift the licence-exemption cap on own- or embedded-generation plants from 1 MW to 100 MW as not only positive for addressing South Africa’s immediate electricity shortages, but also as “the precursor to the development of a new electricity supply industry in South Africa, which is going to be driven by far greater market dynamics than has hitherto been the case”. In a virtual conversation directed by Citigroup chief country officer Peter Taylor as part of the SA Tomorrow conference, De Ruyter said the higher threshold would likely be an “important contributor to adding much-needed capacity to the grid”.
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Fishermen, oyster farmers fear power-generating ship will kill business

A floating gas-turbine generator meant to alleviate South Africa’s crippling power cuts has run into objections by oyster farmers and small-scale fishermen, who fear the environmental damage will destroy their livelihoods. The seafood sellers fear the 415 MW ship – to be moored for two decades at Saldanha Bay, 140 km north of Cape Town – will pump hot water into the bay and make endless noise, spoiling farmed oysters and scaring off fish as Africa’s most industrialised country scrambles to fix electricity problems.
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Kenya utility joins global emissions project, plans carbon trade

Kenya Electricity Generating Co, Africa’s largest geothermal producer, joined a United Nations-backed emissions-reduction programme as it looks to begin a domestic carbon market. KenGen, as the State-run company is known, announced its participation in the Business Ambition for 1.5°C programme on Wednesday. Under the project, the company commits to emission-reduction targets through investments in green and clean energy to help combat global warming, as per the 2015 Paris Agreement guidelines.
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Strong policy needed to grow a green biofuels industry

To ensure that the South African biofuels industry grows sustainably, World Wide Fund for Nature South Africa (WWF-SA) Bioenergy programme manager Tjaša Bole-Rentel says there needs to be a differentiation at policy level based on each biofuel’s environmental impact. Biofuels have the potential to be an environment-friendly alternative to fossil fuels, however, if the environmental impacts of the feedstock’s origins are negative, this can, in some instances, be worse for the environment than fossil fuels.
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Biofuels framework is inadequate

Although the biofuels regulatory framework aims to provide guidance and regulation for the industry and its processes, its falling short in several areas could inhibit its growth in an already challenging environment, says Wits Business School African Energy Leadership Centre director Professor Lwazi Ngubevana. The framework, published on February 7, 2020, provides certainty for the industry in terms of addressing key priorities and results in “promising signs with new projects looking to come online in the near future”.
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Localisation of equipment promotes price stability

Rand volatility has a big impact on projects that require imported biogas equipment ,however the localisation of some equipment can help the biogas industry gain some stability, says organic waste solutions company Logical Waste director Jason Gifford. It was a good time to import equipment over the past six months owing to the falling rand. However, when developing a project, it will not be developed in six months – it can take several years, during which time the rand exchange rate will change.
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Association offers value to stakeholders

Stakeholders in the biofuels and biogas industry can advocate for better legislation and connect with other stakeholders by being active members of associations such as the Southern African Biogas Industry Association (SABIA). The association also makes it possible for stakeholders and interested parties to gain access to industry knowledge and news.
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