Transnet prepares to invite bids for Richards Bay LNG terminal

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.
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SA to move to Stage 2 load shedding on Thursday night

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.
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Explosion at Joburg substation could lead to another week of electricity woes

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.
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Eskom wants OEM ‘boots on ground’ to help stabilise poor performing coal fleet

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.
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Karpowership showcases FSRU vessel, highlights floating gas-to-power benefits

Floating gas-to-power specialist Karpowership South Africa (KPS SA) has showcased a Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU) ship, in Cape Town, before it ventures on to its final destination in Rio de Janeiro.  KPS SA plans on docking three of these vessels – one each at Richards Bay, Saldanha Bay and Coega – to generate a combined 1.2 GW of power for South Africa’s grid for a 20-year period.
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‘Low’ chance of a total blackout, says Eskom

There is a low likelihood of a total blackout, or collapse of the power system, Eskom said on Wednesday. The power utility provided a system update as Stage 4 load shedding persists.
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Load-shedding downgraded to Stage 3 on Wednesday night

Load-shedding will be reduced from Stage 4 to Stage 3 at 22:00, and remain in force until Friday, Eskom announced on Wednesday. Six generation units have been returned online over the past 24 hours, with three more units set to return on Thursday.
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DMRE says it has no knowledge of Eskom’s standard offer to secure power from private generators

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) says it is unaware of Eskom’s ‘standard offer’ instrument, through which the utility claims it could potentially secure an immediate 500 MW from private generators with surplus electricity. Eskom CEO André de Ruyter listed the standard offer among several short-term interventions that should be enabled immediately to ease pressure on the country’s load-shedding prone grid.
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Rolls-Royce optimistic that its SMR design will be approved quickly

Rolls-Royce SMR, the UK-based global power and propulsion system manufacturing group Rolls-Royce’s small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) subsidiary, hopes that it will receive UK regulatory approval for its design in about two years, and be generating power before the end of this decade. So Rolls-Royce SMR chairperson Paul Stein has told the Reuters news agency. The regulatory approval process for the SMR began last month. “[It] will likely complete in the middle of 2024,” he said, “we are trying to work with the UK Government, and others to get going now placing orders, so that we can get power on grid by 2029.”
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Siemens Gamesa CEO says wind turbine material price peak is not over

Siemens Gamesa is discussing raising prices for its wind turbines by more than a high single-digit percentage in some cases as it grapples with stubbornly lofty raw materials prices, CE Jochen Eickholt said on Wednesday. “For specific materials … steel, copper, others, we continue to observe further non-decreasing prices so the price peak we kind of reached is kind of still in existence,” Eickholt told analysts on a conference call after posting a quarterly loss. Read full story
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