IEA launches Cost of Capital Observatory to improve borrowing costs transparency

Intergovernmental organisation the International Energy Agency (IEA) and several partners have launched a new tool, the Cost of Capital Observatory, to track financing costs for energy projects around the world, with the aim of identifying and addressing risks that have impeded vital investment flows to emerging and developing economies. The Cost of Capital Observatory will be hosted on the IEA’s website and regularly updated with new data, analysis and features. The IEA website will also host an interactive Cost of Capital Ddshboard to enable users to dig into data for selected countries.
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Load shedding to be reduced to Stage 4 on Saturday, Stage 3 on Sunday

Load shedding will be reduced to Stage 4 at 05:00 on Saturday morning, Eskom announced on Friday. A further reduction to Stage 3 will be implemented from 05:00 on Sunday until 05:00 on Monday. “The capacity constraints will persist throughout next week, and current indications are that load shedding will be implemented at Stage 3 for most of the week,” Eskom said in a statement. A further update will be published on Sunday afternoon, or as soon as there are any significant changes, the power utility said.
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Cape Town’s first solar plant to be built in Atlantis next year 

 The City of Cape Town plans to build its first grid-connected solar plant next year as one of its interventions to end load-shedding over time.  The city has issued the tender for the engineering, procurement and construction of a 7 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) facility in Atlantis. 
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Eskom, partners to establish renewables training facility at Komati

State-owned Eskom, the South African Renewable Energy Technology Centre (Saretec) – based at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) – and the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) have signed a partnership agreement for the development of a new training facility to be established at the soon-to-be-decommissioned Komati power station, in Mpumalanga. The training facility is part of Eskom’s contribution to a just transition for the local community as the Komati power station is decommissioned.
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Load-shedding, tariff hearings and Bid Window 5 progress

Engineering News Editor Terence Creamer talks about society’s growing anger over load-shedding, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s public hearings into Eskom’s request for a 32% tariff hike and the signing of project agreements for three wind projects under Bid Window 5.
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AfDB offers South Africa a financing deal to raise $41bn

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has suggested a plan to South Africa that will help the nation use the $8.5 billion in climate financing pledged by some of the world’s richest nations to raise even more funds. The AfDB has recommended that South Africa park the funds in a special purpose vehicle, bank President Akinwumi Adesina. The SPV, which can seek a credit rating, can sell zero-coupon bonds to raise as much as $41 billion, Adesina said in an interview Thursday in Bloomberg’s New York office.
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