Three additional geographic areas – Emalahleni, Klerksdorp and Beaufort West – have officially been declared as Renewable Energy Development Zones (REDZs) following the publication of a Government Gazette notice signed by Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Barbara Creecy. The new zones increase to 11 the number of declared REDZs, with eight zones having previously been proclaimed in Overberg, Komsberg, Cookhouse, Stormberg, Kimberley, Vryberg, Upington and Springbok.
Power utility Eskom says it will implement Stage 2 load-shedding from 17:00 on Wednesday until 23:00 on Friday as the generation capacity is severely constrained. “There is a probability that load-shedding may be implemented at short notice should any further breakdowns occur before then,” it warns.
Eskom Holdings and Sasol, South Africa’s two biggest polluters, must comply with emission limits even if it costs them tens of billions of rand, Environment Minister Barbara Creecy said. The companies, which use coal to produce electricity and gasoline respectively, have sought to avoid installing so-called flue-gas desulfurization, or FGD, units at their facilities to reduce sulfur dioxide pollution because of their cost.
The publication of a national hydrogen strategy has been identified by the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) as the crucial first pillar in an evolving four-pillar policymaking toolbox for countries that are either planning to export or import green hydrogen as part of their multi-pronged decarbonisation efforts. In fact, Irena knowledge and policy specialist Emanuele Bianco argued during a webinar on Tuesday that such a strategy was required not only to define a country’s level of ambition for green hydrogen, but also to outline the amount of support required and provide a reference on hydrogen’s development for private investment and finance.
Ratings agency S&P Global Ratings sees finding a solution to Eskom’s unsustainable debt position as potentially key to meeting the timelines proposed for the broader restructuring of the State-owned utility into three units of generation, transmission and distribution – an unbundling that is also viewed as necessary for reforming South Africa’s electricity supply industry and attracting much-needed private generation investment. Speaking during a virtual update on South Africa on Tuesday, corporate ratings director Omega Collocott said the restructuring was progressing “slowly”, but had been negatively affected by the disruptions associated with the Covid-19 pandemic as well as operational difficulties that had resulted in recent bouts of rotational power cuts.
The Eskom board has resolved to initiate an investigation into an allegation of racism made against CEO André de Ruyter, indicating in a statement that an independent senior counsel would be appointed to conduct the probe. The counsel, the board said, would be empowered to interview any person who might be of assistance and could consider any evidence.
A decade into the creation of South Africa’s renewable energy sector, it has become apparent that it is still lagging in gender diversity, which is why South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) CEO Ntombifuthi Ntuli says the industry is actively giving attention to adjust and improve the levels of gender representation, at all levels, with the launch of its Gender Diversity Working Group. “Gender diversity means a fair gender representation across all spheres of our industry,” she comments, lamenting that a 2020 report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) and the Women in Wind Global Leadership Program shows that women represent only 21% of the global wind energy workforce and only 8% of its senior management.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called on Saturday for a binding deal by the summer on the operation of a giant Ethiopian hydropower dam, as he made his first visit to neighbouring Sudan since the 2019 overthrow of Omar al-Bashir. Egypt also signalled support for Sudan in a dispute with Ethiopia over an area on the border between the two countries where there have recently been armed skirmishes.
Creamer Media’s Chanel de Bruyn speaks to Engineering News Editor Terence Creamer about South Africa’s plans to resume the procurement of renewable energy after a six-year stall, what commitments have been made by government and the potential for industrialisation around the programme?
South Africa added 515 MW of new wind capacity in 2020 cementing its wind leadership on the African continent, a new Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) analysis shows. By the end of last year, South Africa had 2 500 MW of cumulative wind capacity installed, representing about 34% of the 7 300 MW of capacity installed across Africa and the Middle East.
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