The State-owned Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) reports that a request for proposals will be issued in the “coming weeks” for the development of a liquified natural gas (LNG) terminal at the Port of Richards Bay, in KwaZulu-Natal. The tender process follows conformation by TNPA that it received 19 responses to a request for information (RFI) released on February 13 to assess market interest in the design, development, construction, financing, operations, maintenance and transfer of an LNG terminal in the port’s South Dunes precinct.
Load shedding will be reduced from Stage 3 to Stage 2 at 22:00 on Thursday evening, Eskom announced. Stage 2 will continue until Friday evening. A generation unit each at the Majuba, Matimba and the Arnot power stations have returned to service since Wednesday night, while a single unit at Tutuka Power Station was shut down for repairs. Two more units are set to return to service during the next 24 hours.
It’s been six days since a fire at a substation in Eldorado Park left large sections of Johannesburg without power. And, to make matters worse, an explosion at the same substation could lead to another seven days of work before the electricity is fully restored. The fire, which initially started at around 05:00 on Friday, caused widespread power outages and water cuts in Johannesburg. City Power had hoped to restore the electricity on Wednesday, but the explosion could have derailed that plan.
Eskom has confirmed that it intends procuring engineering and maintenance services from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the coming months to supplement its skills base at power stations that have become prone to repeated unplanned breakdowns. CEO André de Ruyter said the strategy was still being canvassed with organised labour and with government, but that he expected the first OEM “boots on the ground” within the coming three to six months.