Eskom to extend daily power cuts until Thursday

South Africa’s struggling State-owned utility Eskom will extend power interruptions on the national grid until Thursday, the company said on Twitter. Stage 3 interruptions, meaning 3 000 MW are removed from the grid, will run from midnight on Sunday to 4 pm Monday and then daily until Thursday.
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Ramaphosa admits there is ‘no quick fix’ to a power crisis that has ‘long history’

Amid intense load-shedding, which has been under way continuously since early September and has at times been implemented at Stage 6, President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned that there is “no quick fix” to the problem, which he says has “a long history”. Writing in his weekly newsletter a week after having cut short a working visit abroad, notably  his participation in the  77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, the President acknowledge widespread public anger, which he described as “wholly justified”.
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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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October deadline set for residual renewables bids as South Africa signs wind farm agreements …

A deadline of the end of October has been set for the signing of power purchase and implementation agreements by the remaining 22 Bid Window Five (BW5) renewables projects, following the conclusion of the first such agreements with three wind projects, with a combined capacity of 420 MW and a combined investment value of R11-billion. IPP Office head Bernard Magoro reported on Thursday that all BW5 preferred bidders had now secured grid-connection Budget Quotes from Eskom, the absence of which had delayed the conclusion of the round from an initial deadline of April, and that “the next step is to now sign the agreements”.
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Renewable energy adds 700 000 jobs to reach 12.7m globally

Worldwide employment in renewable energy reached 12.7-million in the past year, which was an increase of 700 000 new jobs in one year despite the lingering effects of Covid-19 and the growing energy crisis, says global body the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena), which has published a report in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The ‘Renewable Energy and Jobs: Annual Review 2022’ report identifies domestic market size as a major factor influencing employment generation in renewables, along with labour and other costs.
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