The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) launched its Integrated Renewable Energy and Resource Efficiency Programme (iREREP) by opening its request for information (RFI) on September 20, saying its 30-year lead time is aligned with government’s National Infrastructure Plan 2050 and will be rolled across various DPWI-managed buildings up to 2050. The iREREP’s RFI is intended to test the market for additional ideas and information which comprehensively looks at ways to deliver mutual value through strong partnerships across government and the private sector, Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille said.
Cabinet has approved a revised – and more ambitious – Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) carbon mitigation target range for 2030 ahead of the upcoming COP26 gathering, which will take place in Glasgow, Scotland, in November. In a statement, Cabinet announced that South Africa had revised its 2030 climate change mitigation target range to 350 – 420 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt Co2-eq) for submission to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Cabinet has approved the setting up of the multi-purpose nuclear reactor project to replace the current SAFARI-1 nuclear research reactor, owned by the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa). The research reactor, located at Pelindaba, west of Pretoria, is a leading global producer of medical radioisotopes used to treat cancer.
Talks about reducing the South African state power utility’s R402-billion debt to a manageable level are taking too long, its CEO Andre de Ruyter said. Eskom Holdings, which produces most of South Africa’s power, can’t meet its running and debt service costs and is dependent on government handouts to keep operating. It also needs to borrow more money to help it transition away from the polluting coal-fired plants used to produce the bulk of its electricity.