Just Transition Framework means South Africa can ‘proceed apace’ with $8.5bn partnership

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the publication of the Just Transition Framework will enable South Africa to “proceed apace with harnessing the benefits” of the Just Energy Transition Partnership concluded with the US, the UK, Germany, France and the European Union in late 2021. The partnership includes an offer of $8.5-billion in concessional climate finance to accelerate South Africa’s transition from coal to renewables and support workers and communities currently reliant on the coal value chain.
/by

Drakenstein municipality explores IPP procurement to combat load-shedding

The Drakenstein municipality in the Western Cape – encompassing Paarl, Wellington, Mbekweni, Gouda, Saron, Hermon and Simondium – reports that it is exploring the procurement of electricity from independent power producers (IPPs) to mitigate the negative impact of ongoing load-shedding by Eskom. Executive Mayor Alderman Conrad Poole reports that, working together with the Western Cape government, Drakenstein is investigating a combination of renewable energy resources, such as solar and wind, as well as using gas instead of electricity.
/by

Unions set to sign 7% Eskom wage offer

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) have accepted Eskom’s one-year 7% wage deal in principle and will sign an agreement to this effect imminently. This comes after a several-week deadlock in wage talks at the Central Bargaining Forum, which triggered protest disruptions at various Eskom plants and plunged the country into Stage 6 load-shedding for the second time in the power utility’s history.
/by

Treasury says Pension Funds Act changes encourage infrastructure investment

The National Treasury has published amendments to Regulation 28 of the Pension Funds Act that encourages infrastructure investments by retirement funds, while still leaving the final investment decision to fund trustees. The amendments will take effect on January 3, 2023.
/by

Roll-Royce SMR reveals shortlist for site of first factory to make major reactor components

Rolls-Royce SMR, a subsidiary company of the UK-based global major power and propulsion systems group Rolls-Royce, has announced its shortlist of locations to build its first factory (of three) that will produce the components for its small modular nuclear reactor (SMR). The Rolls-Royce SMR company was set up by the Rolls-Royce-led SMR consortium, the other members of which were (and now shareholders in the company are) Assystem, Atkins, BAM Nuttall, Jacobs, Laing O’Rourke, the (UK) National …
/by

Eskom crisis: ANC NEC hears calls for state of emergency, moving power utility to energy dept

The African National Congress’s (ANC’s) national executive committee (NEC) heard wide-ranging and spirited calls for intervention in response to the Eskom energy crisis, which ranged from the declaration of a state of emergency to immediately moving Eskom from the Department of Public Enterprises to the Department of Energy. Sources who attended the NEC meeting, which began on Saturday and ended on Monday, noted that there was an acknowledgement that South Africa’s energy shortages and ongoing rolling blackouts were a crisis.
/by