South Africa seeks to make climate finance deal global benchmark

South Africa’s planned $8.5-billion climate finance deal with some of the world’s richest nations could serve as a blueprint for other coal-dependent countries, the head of its negotiating team said. The potential funding, which will be made available over three to five years, was announced at the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow in November. Under the arrangement, the US, UK, Germany, France and European Union plan to provide finance to help the country cut its use of coal, which is used to generate more than 80% of its electricity.
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Gauteng municipality targets 323 businesses that allegedly owe around R312m for electricity

The financially-strapped Emfuleni municipality started a revenue collection drive by cutting defaulters’ electricity in a bid to get them to pay up if they want to be reconnected. Since the campaign was launched on Monday, several government departments – such as the Labour Department and a SAPS training centre – were plunged into darkness.
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Sasol completes Ressano Garcia gas-to-power divestment

Chemicals and energy multinational Sasol says it has completed the divestment of its shareholding in the 175 MW gas-to-power plant Central Térmica de Ressano Garcia (CTRG), in Ressano Garcia, Mozambique, effective April 29. In December 2020, Sasol announced that a sale securities purchase agreement had been signed with Azura Power for the divestment of Sasol’s equity interest in CTRG.
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DMRE details fresh electricity procurement delays in briefing of lawmakers

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) told lawmakers on Tuesday that the postponement of financial close on 25 wind and solar projects selected as preferred bids in October was the result of delays in the issuance of budget quotations from Eskom for connection to the grid. Bid window five (BW5) of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) was scheduled to close at the end of April, but the decision to delay the signing of power purchase and implementation agreements was confirmed by the IPP Office on April 28.
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Eskom to implement Stage 2 load-shedding from 17:00 until 05:00 on May 9

Power utility Eskom has announced that it will implement Stage 2 load-shedding from 17:00 on May 3 to 05:00 on Monday, May 9. The utility attributed the load-shedding to a shortage of generation capacity owing to delays in returning generators to service, as well as breakdowns of nine generators.
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Cold boxes being precooled in preparation for gas

JSE-listed Renergen reported on May 3 that it was making “strong” progress in terms of the commissioning of Phase 1 of the Virginia gas project, which comprises exploration and production rights of 187 000 ha of gas fields across Welkom, Virginia and Theunissen, in the Free State. Cold boxes – which are self-supporting structures that protect cryogenic equipment such as heat exchangers, core-in-drums, distillation columns, piping, valves and instrumentation – are currently being purged and pre-cooled using liquid nitrogen, which is an important process in preparing the units for acceptance of gas from
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Rich nations scramble to seal coal transition deals before COP27

As they prepare for the next round of global climate talks in November, officials from rich countries are trying to pull together a series of multibillion-dollar packages to help poor countries phase out coal. But negotiations have been snarled by national politics and Russia’s war in Ukraine, which has made the dirtiest fossil fuel a lucrative commodity to mine and export, according to people familiar with the talks who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private.
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