Creecy wants climate commission to oversee consultations on air quality disputes

Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy has written to President Cyril Ramaphosa to request that the Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) be allowed to oversee public consultations on appeals that have arisen in relation to air-quality compliance by Eskom power stations. Several appeals have been lodged against decisions taken by the Department’s National Air Quality Officer in relation to  the requests for the suspension and/or postponement of compliance with the Minimum Emission Standards (MES) and the issuance of provisional atmospheric emission licences.
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Engineering firm hoping to help ‘rebuild South Africa’ through new energy projects

Founded in 1998, engineering firm TerraStruc will soon set up shop on South African soil as part of its growth trajectory, which includes contracting capabilities and design, construction and property development for renewable energy projects in sub-Saharan Africa. As part of this move into the lower half of Africa, TerraStruc partner Johann Schoeman says that the company is aiming to have its first project in South Africa up-and-running by mid-2022.
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SA turns to Mozambique’s vast natural gas reserves as Eskom battles to keep the lights on

South Africa will seek to bolster its energy security by tapping into neighbouring Mozambique’s vast natural gas reserves. President Cyril Ramaphosa made the announcement on Friday morning in his opening remarks at the third South Africa-Mozambique Bi-National Commission Plenary Session held at the OR Tambo Building in Pretoria.
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Eskom CEO holds talks on potential projects with World Bank

The head of South Africa’s state power utility held discussions with the World Bank as it explores options for transitioning from coal-fired stations to cleaner sources of energy. Eskom Holdings CEO Andre de Ruyter travelled to the bank’s headquarters for the talks earlier this week. The utility supplies more than 90% of the country’s electricity, the bulk of it from coal.
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AfricaGoGreen Fund receives $31.5m to promote private sector efficiency investments

Development finance institution the African Development Bank (AfDB) and its Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) have approved a combined-equity investment of $20-million in the AfricaGoGreen Fund (AGGF) debt fund, which was established to promote private investments in energy-efficient technologies and business models, decarbonise African economies and accelerate the energy transition. This is in addition to the $11.5-million equity contribution approved by development finance institution the Nordic Development Fund (NDF).
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Red Rocket’s Roggeveld wind farm achieves commercial operations

African independent power producer (IPP) Red Rocket’s first wind farm in South Africa, Roggeveld, has reached commercial operations. The project, situated on the border of the Northern and Western Cape province, has an installed capacity of 147 MW and a contracted capacity of 140 MW.
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City of Cape Town studying battery storage as part of strategy to end load-shedding

The City of Cape Town is at the preliminary stages of assessing the business case for the deployment of battery energy storage systems (BESS) as part of its evolving strategy to eliminate the threat of load-shedding for its residents. The city is already moving ahead with plans to procure 300 MW of renewables generation from independent power producers and generation development manager Shane Prins reports that BESS is also on the city’s radar.
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Cape Town looks to IPPs to make the city load-shedding resilient by 2027

Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis is taking steps to protect the city from Stage 3 load-shedding by 2027 at a minimum – but preferably Stage 4 – in a move that he believes will facilitate “meaningfully faster” growth across the metropole. “Not only is it inconvenient to have load-shedding, but right now the energy crisis is the biggest handbrake on the South African economy.”
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Sonangol working to develop green hydrogen production strategy

Angolan State-owned oil and gas company Sonangol’s Research and Development Centre is working to develop a strategy to produce green hydrogen. It has been conducting conceptual and engineering studies in Angola to identify a site for the installation of a plant to produce green hydrogen and its derivatives for domestic and foreign consumption.
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Environmental groups opposed to Richards Bay gas power plant get High Court date

Environmental organisations the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA) and groundWork have been notified that their case challenging the environmental authorisation by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) for a 3 000 MW combined cycle gas power plant, in Richards Bay, will be heard in the North Gauteng High Court later this year. It is the first court case in South Africa challenging the environmental authorisation of a gas power plant, and the litigation raises specific concern about an inadequate assessment of climate change impacts and alternatives to this project, which includes renewable energy.
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