SAWEA voices support for Ramaphosa’s electricity security interventions

The South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) has applauded the numerous interventions outlined by President Cyril Ramaphosa to tackle South Africa’s energy crisis. The association said on July 26 that it viewed the plan as being sharply focused on the key areas of concern, encompassing the improvement of state-owned Eskom’s energy availability factor (EAF) with maintenance; bringing all available energy into the system quickly; accelerating new generation capacity; addressing bureaucratic blockages; and liberalising the energy system.
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Environmental disregard, ambiguity and inclusion of gas in new energy plan of concern for …

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s plan to arrest a degradation in the prevailing electricity generation deficit issue in South Africa has been welcomed by several organisations as a measure that took into account consultation from various perspectives, as well as one that addresses rolling out new generation capacity in an environment-friendly way.

On July 25, Ramaphosa  presented an energy plan, which renewable energy advocacy movement 350Africa.org believes represents a major step forward in tackling the country’s energy and climate crisis through renewable energy.

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Eskom submits safety case in support of keeping Koeberg going

Public entity the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) has confirmed that State-owned Eskom has submitted the safety case in support of its application to extend the operational life of the Koeberg nuclear power station beyond the current licence term. The application to extend the operational life was submitted by Eskom on May 10 last year and was accepted by the NNR for further processing on August 17.
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Botswana offers off-peak electricity to supplement Eskom supply

After President Cyril Ramaphosa announced an intention to import electricity from neighbouring countries to supplement South Africa’s constrained power supply, Botswana wants South Africa to even buy more from it. Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) wants Eskom to buy its off-peak generated power since electricity can’t be stored on any scale and fluctuation can put strain on generators.
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Regional welding institute supports creation of an African School of Nuclear Excellence

The Southern African Institute of Welding (SAIW) highlighted on Wednesday that it was cooperating with the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation to promote the creation of an African School of Nuclear Excellence. Such a school would be focused on nuclear-grade practical welding, weld inspection, the associated technology and technical services, as well as the non-destructive testing (NDT) of “exotic” materials and configurations, employed in the entire lifecycle of nuclear plants – that is, …
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DPWI to publish RFP for iREREP in the coming week

The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) – supported by the National Treasury’s Government Technical Advisory Centre’s (GTAC) transactional adviser – will publish a request for proposals (RFP) for the start of the Integrated Renewable Energy and Resource Efficiency Programme (iREREP) in the coming week. This follows the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa on July 25 of actions to address South Africa’s electricity crisis.
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Eskom says measures unveiled by Ramaphosa will aid recovery of ‘disappointing’ coal fleet

Electricity utility Eskom says the measures announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa will enable it to intensify its maintenance efforts to drive improvements to the energy availability factor (EAF) across its coal fleet, where the performance has been “disappointing”. In a statement released to express its support for the interventions announced on July 25, Eskom said it was placing significant emphasis on recovering the EAF.
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Lesotho’s Muela hydro power station under repair

Lesotho’s Muela hydro power station is currently operating at two-thirds of its capacity after one of the three units that generate electricity failed to restart following a fault that caused all three machines to shut down on June 16. The Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) said in a statement that it has been working on restoring Unit 1; however, it remains unoperational.
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Africa’s top renewable firm may raise $4bn after takeover

Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and Egypt’s Infinity Group plan to raise as much as $4-billion to double the size of a recently acquired business that’s already Africa’s biggest renewable power company. The two firms agreed to buy Lekela Power last week and are seeking between $2.5-billion and $4-billion from capital markets over the next four years, Samaila Zubairu, AFC’s chief executive officer and president, said in an interview.
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