US in ‘race to the top’ to solve energy supply chain vulnerabilities – Fernandez

The US has three international energy priorities, and they also relate to Africa, says US State Department Undersecretary for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment, José Fernandez. Speaking at the Inveesting in African Mining Indaba 2022 on Tuesday, Fernandez said these priorities were integral to the US’s support for high standard economic growth and development around the world.
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New infrastructure vulnerable to climate change owing to mismanagement, corruption

New infrastructure was just as vulnerable to climate change as ageing infrastructure, said South African Local Government Association (Salga) senior climate change adviser Slindile Maphumulo on May 10. She explained that, while ageing infrastructure was vulnerable to being damaged or destroyed during extreme weather events, new infrastructure was equally at risk as a result of being built poorly, slowly or not at all owing to poor tender systems, the appointment of incompetent service providers and contractors, black economic empowerment systems, inexperienced engineers and, most of all, rampant corruption.
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Groups welcome expiry of enviro authorisation for proposed coal-fired power station

The Pretoria High Court confirmed, on May 3, that the environmental authorisation for the planned 600 MW KiPower coal-fired power station had expired, meaning the proposed power station cannot be built.

KiPower was intended to be built outside Emalahleni, in Mpumalanga – a region with poor air quality as a result an existing fleet of coal-fired power stations in the vicinity, Sasol’s coal-to-liquids plant in Secunda and the Natref refinery, in Sasolburg, notes environmental groups groundWork and the Centre for Environmental Rights.

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Ford South Africa’s Silverton plant switches on 13 MW of solar

Automaker Ford South Africa’s (Ford SA’s) Silverton assembly plant, in Pretoria, which produces the Ranger pickup for the domestic and export markets, has officially started sourcing 35% of its electricity needs from solar photovoltaic (PV) energy generation. Ford SA has a long-term power purchase agreement in place with SolarAfrica, which installed PV carports for 3 610 vehicles at the Silverton plant.
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Stage 2 load-shedding planned for Tuesday evening – with a risk of worse during the day

Stage 2 load-shedding will again be implemented from 17:00 to 22:00 on Tuesday night, Eskom announced on Tuesday morning. In addition, there is a possibility of higher load-shedding stages should any breakdowns occur during the day on Tuesday.
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