Faced with government ineptitude, Cape Town is going it alone

 As South Africa’s government struggles to provide sufficient electricity, public transport and other basic services, the country’s main tourist hub is increasingly going it alone.

Cape Town, which has been led by the opposition Democratic Alliance since 2006, is forging ahead with plans to secure its own energy supply. It’s also investigating the feasibility of taking over the city’s commuter rail network — currently operated by a State-owned company — and playing a role in getting the harbor to run more efficiently. And it’s hired more than 1 000 of its own security officers to complement the work of the police force, which it accuses of doing a dismal job of fighting gang violence and other crime.

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GreenCape’s 2022 green economy market intelligence reports outline opportunities

This year’s editions of nonprofit organisation GreenCape’s yearly green economy market intelligence reports (MIRs) have been made available. The reports were officially launched on June 7 by Western Cape Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities Mireille Wenger and Western Cape Minister of Agriculture Ivan Meyer.
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Global clean energy transition not happening – REN21

According to global community of renewable energy actors REN21’s ‘Renewables 2022 Global Status Report’ (GSR), the global clean energy transition is not happening, making it unlikely that the world will be able to meet critical climate goals this decade.

Despite promises of a worldwide green recovery in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, REN21 says the historic opportunity to transition to greener industrial methods has been lost.

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Two European Parliament Committees reject inclusion of nuclear in EU’s future energy plan

Two European Parliament committees have voted against the European Commission’s plan to include nuclear energy and gas in the European Union’s (EU’s) future energy taxonomy. (The European Commission is the EU’s executive body.) The two committees concerned are the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee and the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee. To be precise, the majority of the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in both committees voted against the European …
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Proposals made to end worsening load-shedding

Creamer Media’s Chanel de Bruyn speaks to Engineering News Editor Terence Creamer about warnings that load-shedding could become much worse if urgent action is not taken, proposals by Meridien Economics and other experts on how to end load-shedding and the need for political will and coordination in the energy sector.
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Earth & Wire and Energy Exchange of Southern Africa sign PPA

Independent electricity brand Earth & Wire has signed a 12-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Energy Exchange of Southern Africa to provide 5 MW, or 13 GWh/y, of solar energy to Mediclinic and another large customer. The power will be generated from the Slimsun Too photovoltaic project, near Malmesbury, in the Western Cape, and delivered to the customers using power utility Eskom’s national grid.
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Climate Commission set sights on energy mix as it wraps up work on just transition framework

The Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) is initiating a process of research and consultation on South Africa’s future energy mix, which it aims to present to Cabinet before the end of 2022. Speaking at a conference hosted by the RES4Africa Foundation in Johannesburg, executive director Dr Crispian Olver said that the commission was close to finalising its work on a just transition framework and that it was, thus, turning its attention to the country’s energy mix.
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Nuclear-powered carbon capture technology project in the UK

A UK-based consortium has reported that nuclear power plants (NPPs) could provide the heat necessary to enable a technology to capture carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere (an approach known as ‘direct air capture’ or DAC, for short). The consortium comprised EDF Sizewell C (a UK subsidiary of the French EDF group and holder of 20% of the proposed Sizewell C NPP project), UK company Strata Technology, the University of Nottingham (in England), Doosan Babcock (a UK subsidiary of the South …
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R40m earmarked to help curb, prevent electricity vandalism in Cape Town

The City of Cape Town is investing R40-million to curb and prevent vandalism of electricity infrastructure in the province. The funds were set aside as part of the city’s approved 2022/23 budget. In a media release on Monday, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Energy, Councillor Beverley van Reenen said that the injection would focus on securing critical infrastructure and to further boost security patrols in hotspot areas and permanent security deployments to strategic energy …
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SAPVIA elects Dr Rethabile Melamu CEO, Chanda Nxumalo chairperson

Industry organisation the South African Photovoltaic Industry Association (SAPVIA) has elected Dr Rethabile Melamu as its new CEO and Chanda Nxumalo as its new chairperson during the organisation’s tenth annual general meeting held on June 9. Melamu is a chemical and environmental engineer by training and has become renowned for her international expertise in the green economy and energy sectors.
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