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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Just Share says analysis shows Absa intends to continue financing fossil fuel projects

Shareholder activist organisation Just Share has analysed financial services firm Absa’s recently published Coal Financing Standard and Oil and Gas Financing Standard, as well as Absa’s 2022 disclosures partially aligned with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (2021 TCFD Report), and says “Absa’s intention is quite clearly to continue to fund coal, oil and gas projects.” The bank’s oil and gas standard states that “Absa will strive to achieve a balanced energy portfolio funding diversification mix between renewable energy, oil, natural gas, biomass, hydrogen and coal”, Just Share climate change engagement director Robyn Hugo says.
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AfriForum seeks to assist households, businesses wanting to sell power into grid

Civil rights organisation AfriForum has launched its #MyPower campaign following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement that businesses and households will be allowed to install solar power with no licencing threshold and feed excess power into the grid. The campaign is asking for a mandate that AfriForum and its service company Pionier can negotiate on behalf of households and businesses with the newly established Energy Crisis Committee, as well as with the National Energy Regulator of South Africa on regulations for private power generation, sales to the power grid and tariffs.
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South African miners commit to playing their part to support new energy plan

Minerals Council South Africa says it supports the inclusion of the private sector in government’s plan to resolve the country’s electricity crisis. “President Cyril Ramaphosa outlined a detailed plan by the government to abolish the 100 MW licensing cap on private sector renewable energy projects, ensure greater private sector participation to urgently install electricity generation capacity, address Eskom’s R400-billion debt and its internal crime and corruption problems, and streamline regulatory processes by eliminating red tape.
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Govt’s new energy plan broadly welcomed, but many call for firm deadlines

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s plan to tackle the power crisis in South Africa, as announced and unpacked on July 25, has been well received by the business, labour, academic and environmental communities, but many call for firm deadlines to be added to the plan.

Industry body Business Unity South Africa (Busa) CEO Cas Coovadia says the head of State duly considered the private sector and energy experts’ proposals for stabilising and securing the country’s energy supply.

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