Innovative citizen ownership model proposed for just transition to renewables

A financial model that enables the building of public renewables assets using funds from citizens, who receive ongoing inflation-adjusted payments in return that are linked to the asset’s power purchase agreement (PPA), is being proposed for integration into South Africa’s planned just energy transition. The mechanism is being promoted by energy specialist Clyde Mallinson, who believes the approach could help allay the fears of those stakeholders who remain sceptical of wholesale private ownership of generation assets, while also delivering tangible security-of-supply and financial benefits to municipalities along with annuity payments to citizen investors.
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Court orders government to clean up air in coal belt

A South African court on Friday upheld a complaint by activists that poor air quality in the coal belt is a breach of constitutional rights, giving the environment minister a year to enforce a clean air plan. South Africa’s coal belt, east of the capital Pretoria and main city Johannesburg is home to an estimated 3.6-million people, as well as a dozen Eskom coal-fired power stations and some Sasol petrochemicals plants.
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Carbon prices decline despite energy costs increasing owing to war on Ukraine – Fitch Solutions

Carbon prices have tumbled in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, decoupling from the broader energy complex, despite the steep rise in gas prices, which should have incentivised gas-to-coal switching, raising emissions and so driving up the demand for European emissions allowances (EUAs), says research organisation Fitch Solutions. From a peak of €96/t carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2e) on February 8, to their trough at €58/t CO2e on March 7, EUAs lost about 40% of their value, the agency states.
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Economic recovery from Covid-19 threatened by geopolitical tension surrounding Ukraine

Signs of a slow recovery in manufacturing so far this year – which were in part being driven by improvements in production in Europe and Asia – may now be threatened by escalating geopolitical tension in Europe on the back of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and a simultaneous resurgence of the Covid-19 virus in China, research and consulting firm Frost & Sullivan consulting analyst Nomvo Kasolo said on March 17. “However, pockets of opportunity exist for markets that can fill the gaps in exports from Russia,” she noted.
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UCT commits to divest from fossil fuels, including fossil fuel industry endowment

The University of Cape Town (UCT) Council has agreed, in principle, to divestment from fossil fuels, including divesting its endowment formally from the fossil fuel industry. This approach will put back into society, the environment and the global economy more than is being taken out, the council says.
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Sitari Mall rolls out 100% renewable energy solution

The Sitari Village Mall, in Cape Town, has rolled out a 100% renewable energy solution, generated from wind and solar sources.  The mall is owned by the Shoprite Group, and has one of its Checkers supermarkets as its anchor tenant.
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Irmsa warns economy is in for drastic growth decline should fuel caps, Stage 8 load-shedding ensue

With resurgent warnings about load-shedding potentially increasing as high as Stage 8 and the possibility of fuel rationing in the domestic market, the Institute for Risk Management South Africa’s (Irmsa’s) ‘Risk Report’ for 2022 states that the South African economy is in for serious energy risks.

Eskom COO Jan Oberholzer recently confirmed that the State-owned power utility was using nine-million litres of diesel a day at its open-cycle gas turbines in order to avoid load-shedding or to keep load-shedding at lower levels while its coal fleet is struggling to meet supply.

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Power outages across Pretoria as municipal workers embark on a strike

Several parts of Pretoria have been left without electricity amid an “illegal” strike by City of Tshwane staff. At least four regions have been affected during three days of outages.
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Wood Mackenzie unpacks the changing elec landscape in Africa

Global energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie is confident that sub-Saharan Africa offers an alternative vision of how the energy transition can change power generation.

“The evolution of sub-Saharan Africa’s utility business model, both on and off the grid, will fundamentally reshape the trajectory of global electricity demand and will be essential to the energy transition.

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Human error at Koeberg nearly led to ‘devastating consequences’

Eskom nearly lost 920 MW of power to the grid when an individual at nuclear power station Koeberg cut the wrong valve. The incident was reported in Eskom’s newsletter to employees, Shutdown Times, on Tuesday.
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