Busa says GDP growth has been ‘rolled back’ by recent bouts of load-shedding

Business Unity South Africa (Busa) has warned that, despite optimism generated by recent gross domestic product (GDP) numbers, this growth “has been rolled back” by the load-shedding implemented by State-owned power utility Eskom in the past two weeks, which escalated to Stage 4 on June 9. First-quarter GDP growth for this year grew by 1.1% compared with the last quarter of 2020, but the recent bouts of load-shedding has had a devastating impact on businesses in all sectors of the economy and is introducing hardship for citizens.
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Hawks, Eskom investigators nab syndicate selling illegal prepaid electricity with ‘ghost machines’

The Hawks have uncovered a well-organised syndicate selling illicit prepaid electricity on a large scale, costing Eskom millions in revenue, and arrested seven suspects. The Hawks pounced on the suspects, aged 28 to 67, in the early hours of Wednesday in Gauteng.
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Egypt and Sudan urge Ethiopia to negotiate seriously over giant dam

Sudan and Egypt agreed on Wednesday to coordinate efforts to push Ethiopia to negotiate “seriously” on an agreement on filling and operating a giant dam it is building on the Blue Nile, a joint statement said. The two countries, which are downstream from the dam, issued the statement after African Union-sponsored talks remained deadlocked.
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Women-owned Meadows Energy, G7 Renewable Energies partner for Oya hybrid energy project

Wholly women-owned energy company Meadows Energy has been announced as G7 Renewable Energies’ partner for the Oya hybrid energy project, which straddles the the Western and Northern Cape provinces in South Africa. The 128 MW Oya hybrid facility, which will eventually offer dispatchable renewable energy as part of the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP), will use co-located wind turbines, solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays, lithium-ion batteries and a hybrid controller that orchestrates all three technologies to provide dispatchable power to the grid as and when needed.
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Wind industry committed to cooperating with govt to address the current power crisis

The South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) has welcomed the call from government to procure additional wind and solar energy from independent power producers (IPPs) to supply, over and above, what is currently allowed under their existing power purchase agreements (PPAs). SAWEA has engaged with its members to ascertain if the sector is able to provide additional power, in line with the recent call by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE).
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EU regulations can benefit bioethanol production in South Africa

European Union (EU) regulations that are supportive of bioethanol use will provide an opportunity for South Africa in terms of the production of ethanol fuels through various manufacturing methods. South Africa produces just over 400-million litres of ethanol a year, of which 180-million is used for potable purposes and traded within Africa at a good price, but it does not have a “very vibrant” ethanol sector yet, largely owing to the country’s unsupportive regulatory framework.
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Honouring $100bn/y climate-finance pledge key to catalysing developing country energy transitions

Annual clean energy investment in emerging and developing economies needs to increase by more than seven times, from less than $150-billion in 2020 to over $1-trillion by 2030, if the world is to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, a new report shows. The ‘Financing Clean Energy Transitions in Emerging and Developing Economies’ report warns that economies in Asia, Africa and Latin America are set to account for the bulk of emissions growth in the coming decades unless stronger action is taken to transform their energy systems.
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UAE ratifies extradition treaty as South Africa pursues Guptas

The United Arab Emirates Embassy in South Africa said it has ratified an extradition treaty with the African country. The treaty was signed on April 11, the embassy said in a statement on Wednesday. Clayson Monyela, a spokesman for the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation, confirmed the statement.
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Eskom moves to Stage 4 load-shedding from 14:00 to 22:00

Load-shedding will be increased to Stage 4 from 14:00 this afternoon until 22:00 tonight, after which it will revert to Stage 2, Eskom has announced. It says this is due to additional breakdowns of a unit at Medupi and two units at the Duvha power station, together with the high winter demand, as well as to ration the remaining emergency generation reserves, which have been depleted.
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Wind could produce affordable green hydrogen by 2030, Siemens Gamesa says

Wind power could make it possible to produce hydrogen without emitting greenhouse gases as cheaply as is currently feasible with fossil fuel energy by 2030, turbine maker Siemens Gamesa said in a white paper released on Wednesday. Policymakers see green hydrogen, which is made with renewable power without emitting carbon, as a vital tool to help shift economies away from planet-warming energy sources and to stave off climate change, but want to reduce its sky-high costs.
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