South Africa’s Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) has initiated a preliminary process for the proposed development of a new deep-water port at Boegoebaai in the far Northern Cape near the Namibian border, which has been earmarked as a possible hub for the production and export of green hydrogen and derivative products. The State-owned port landlord has released a request for qualification (RFQ) for the design, funding and construction of the proposed greenfield port and rail infrastructure as a precursor to a possible future request for proposals (RFP).
A $42-million dam a century in the making could end water shortages for more than half a million Zimbabweans — and win votes for the ruling party in an opposition stronghold that may decide next year’s presidential election. The expected completion early in 2023 of the Gwayi-Shangani dam 153 miles north west of Bulawayo is part of a strategy by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front to capture votes in the country’s long-neglected second-largest city, according to analysts. Zanu-PF has traditionally struggled to make inroads into urban areas in the province, an area dominated by the minority Ndebele ethnic group.
The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has confirmed September 22 as the new bid submission deadline for Bid Window Six (BW6) of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme following its expansion from 2 600 MW to 5 200 MW. Prior to the doubling of the size of the round as part of a package of interventions announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa on July 25, the BW6 closing date had been set as 17:00 on August 11.
Eskom is implementing Stage 2 load-shedding from 16:00 to 24:00 on Wednesday and Thursday. “The delay in returning a generation unit to service each at Arnot, Koeberg and the Kusile power stations, as well as the unplanned outage of a generation unit each at Camden, Medupi and two units each at Grootvlei, Hendrina and Majuba power stations, have exacerbated the capacity constraints,” Eskom said.
Eskom warned on Tuesday that Stage 2 load-shedding might be implemented at short notice between 16:00 and 24:00 over the next three days. This is due to a delay in returning a generation unit to service each at Arnot, Kusile and the Koeberg power stations, as well as the failure of a generation unit each at Medupi, Hendrina, Camden, and two units at Majuba.
An Africa-focused hydro-power startup has teamed up with a Californian maker of ‘fish-safe’ turbines in a bid to solve electricity supply problems in the Democratic Republic of Congo. MyHydro has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Congolese government to develop 36 small hydro projects in a country where only about 10% of its 100-million people have access to electricity. The plants will use turbines made by Natel Energy, which have blunted blades that leave almost all the fish that pass through the turbines unharmed.
Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan reports that Eskom will seek the exemptions it requires to immediately buy up to 1 600 MW of surplus electricity generation that it believes could be available immediately from existing independent power producers (IPPs) and those private South African businesses with their own generation capacity. He also announced that a further 100 MW to 200 MW could be purchased in the short-term from Botswana and Zambia through the Southern African Power Pool, while a further 150 MW of gas-fired electricity could be purchased from Mozambique.
Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe reported that the bid submission deadline for Bid Window Six (BW6) of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme would be delayed by between 45 and 60 days to ensure procedural fairness in light of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement that the size of the round would be doubled from 2 600 MW to 5 200 MW. The bid submission date for BW 6 was initially set down for August 11, after the request for proposals (RFP) documentation was published on April 6.
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa will visit Mozambique and Zambia in a bid to save the country’s electricity import contracts that are being eyed by Eskom. Mnangagwa’s trips come at a time when South Africa, which is undergoing an electricity crisis, seeks to replace Zimbabwe as an importer of electricity from Mozambique and Zambia.
Renewable energy company EIMS Africa has successfully acquired Renewable Energy Empowerment Management Services (Reesco) – a key step in the company’s expansion plans as it anticipates increasing its generation capacity to about 1 500 MW by late 2022.
EIMS Africa’s current renewable energy portfolio comprises 13 utility-scale projects with a combined generation capacity of over 850 MW, including the 50 MW De Wildt solar farm in the North West province.
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