President Cyril Ramaphosa says that he will, in the coming days, announce a comprehensive set of actions to achieve much faster progress in tackling load-shedding, which has worsened significantly over the past three years and has intensified in recent weeks to the point of being implemented at Stage 6. In his weekly newsletter, the President acknowledged that it was “no time for business as usual”, adding that “we need to act boldly to make load-shedding a thing of the past”.
Namibia can transform its economy, create jobs, reduce inequality and recover faster from the impact of Covid-19 by deepening private sector reforms and increasing private sector participation in its renewable energy, climate-smart agribusiness, housing, and other key sectors, the ‘Namibia Country Private Sector Diagnostic (CPSD)’ report published by development finance institution the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank states. The CPSD highlights opportunities for Namibia to attract investment and achieve sustainable private sector-driven growth. It also suggests policy reforms to encourage competition and public-private partnerships (PPPs), especially in the energy and water sectors.
The South African State-owned power utility’s inflation-beating pay deal struck with protesting workers sets a dangerous precedent for on-going public-sector wage negotiations that may add to price pressures and weigh on state coffers, according to S&P Global Ratings. Eskom Holdings this week signed a one-year deal with three labour groups for a 7% pay hike and an increased monthly housing allowance. While the agreement ended illegal and violent protests that deepened electricity outages in Africa’s most industrialized economy, it will add more than 1 billion rand ($59 million) to the cash-strapped utility’s wage bill for the next 12 months. Eskom, which relies on government support to keep operating, said it will struggle to afford that.
South Africa’s reliance on coal to generate most of its power makes it an environmental pariah but it’s also helping keep inflation in check, according to S&P Global Ratings. While energy prices have soared as European nations scramble to find alternatives to Russian gas supplies following its invasion of Ukraine, South Africa’s power utility Eskom Holdings has been left relatively unscathed.
During a virtual bidder’s conference in preparation for Bid Window 6 (BW6) of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) on July 7, participants and the broader renewable energy industry were heartened by the bullish environment and strong indicators of rolling procurement rounds, further signalling a healthy uptake in this clean power technology, says industry body the South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA). In particular, the imminent release of the 513 MW storage request for proposals before October, and the announcement of another procurement round, BW7, before the end of this year, were positive.
In the rolling hills of South Africa’s Mpumalanga province, hundreds of builders, welders and engineers are putting the final touches to a gigantic new power station that’s set to burn as much as 15-million tons of coal a year until it is eventually shuttered in 2073. The 4 800 MW dry-cooled Kusile plant and the almost identical Medupi facility, which was completed last year, will be key to meeting demand for energy in a country that’s been plagued by rolling blackouts since 2008. Environmentalists however caution that their continued operation will be a major impediment to South Africa meeting its commitment to eliminating greenhouse gas emissions on a net basis by 2050.
The South African Bureau of Standards’ (SABS’) technical committee has added new standards that municipality procurement teams need to adhere to when awarding tenders.
The move from a hybrid petrol-producing country to a petrol-importing country is increasingly becoming a challenge for South Africa, as many companies have been shut down or bought out, says testing and inspection provider Oleum Process & Pipeline (OPP) services sales project engineer Stuart Baigent.
Ensuring a secure transition to net-zero emissions will require increased efforts to expand and diversify the global production of solar panels, whose global supply chains are currently heavily concentrated in China, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said with the launch of a new report on solar photovoltaic (PV) global supply chains released on July 7. Chinese industrial and innovation policies that have focused on expanding solar panel production and markets have helped solar PV become the most affordable electricity generation technology in many places around the world, the agency points out.
Eskom’s Grid Access Unit reports that it has received payments for 179 cost estimate letters, or CELs, and has issued 53 such letters, following the April 6 issuance of a request for proposals (RFP) for Bid Window Six (BW6) of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). Speaking during a virtual bidders conference hosted by the IPP Office, the unit’s head, Azwimbavhi Mamanyuha, reported that a total of 219 grid-access applications had been received by Eskom in relation to BW6, the bid submission date for which is August 11.
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