NUM frustrated at exclusion from Mpumalanga energy summit

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has expressed its frustration at not having been invited to participate in a two-day energy summit held in eMalahleni, Mpumalanga, earlier this week. The union says the Mpumalanga government had undermined it as a key stakeholder in the just energy transition. The summit was led by Premier Refilwe Mtshweni-Tshipane and attended by various provincial and national stakeholders including representatives from the Congress of the South African Trade Unions and power utility Eskom.
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South Africa needs $250bn to transition away from coal

South Africa, the world’s thirteenth-biggest source of greenhouse gases, will need to spend $250-billion over the next three decades closing down its coal-fired power plants and replacing them with green energy, according to a study. In addition to closing down the country’s coal-fired plants and building wind and solar power plants, money will need to be spent compensating coal-dependent communities whose livelihoods are threatened by the change, The Blended Finance Taskforce and the Centre for Sustainability Transitions at Stellenbosch University said. Most of the money will need to come from the private sector, according to the study.
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NCPC-SA energy efficiency objectives ‘big opportunity’ to reduce South Africa’s carbon …

Considering the economic objectives in South Africa and, despite the challenges facing the country, the National Cleaner Production Centre of South Africa (NCPC-SA) believes there remains a “big opportunity” to reduce the country’s carbon intensity. This opportunity, Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) green industries chief director Gerhard Fourie said, was largely approached through the NCPC-SA’s resource efficiency programmes, including the Industrial Energy Efficiency (IEE) project, and which assist industry to address water and energy use challenges.
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Nersa to implement Operation Vulindlela recommendation to drop PPA as 100 MW registration …

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has confirmed that it will implement the Operation Vulindlela recommendation that power purchase agreements (PPAs) should not be a requirement for registration of embedded generation projects below 100 MW. The regulator tells Engineering News that it is currently following procedures to inform the Nersa governors of the change to the registration requirement for qualifying projects.
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Expect to pay more for water and electricity in Ekurhuleni and Joburg

Residents in the Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni municipalities are in for hefty tariff hikes for water and electricity. The two cities presented budget outlooks for the 2022-2023 financial year.
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Ekurhuleni noses ahead in city electricity race

Ekurhuleni, the industrial hub of more than 3 million people to the east of Johannesburg, may have a head start in the race between South African cities to buy their own power to alleviate crippling outages imposed by the national utility. A program to procure as much as 700 MW of electricity that began in 2016 is coming to fruition, with one funder saying a project to build a 41 MW solar plant at a cost of about R1-billion will begin by the end of this year.
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