Stage 4 until weekend as even more units break down at Kendal, Majuba

Eskom will be implemented at Stage 4 throughout Thursday and Friday, with only a possibility of lower stages from Saturday morning, Eskom said on Wednesday.  “Eskom teams are working around the clock to return units to service, but in view of the shortage of generation capacity and the need to carry out unplanned maintenance to return units to service, we unfortunately have to implement load shedding as a last resort,” Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said in a statement.
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Nersa says Eskom is seeking deviation from IRP to build 3 000 MW of combined cycle gas

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has confirmed that Eskom has not applied for a Ministerial determination for a 3 000 MW combined cycle gas power plant at Richards Bay in terms of the Integrated Resource Plan of 2019 (IRP2019), but is instead seeking permission to deviate from the IRP2019. On September 12, Nersa circulated an erratum to a consultation paper published for public comment on August 25 in relation to it providing concurrence to a Ministerial determination for the procurement of 3 000 MW of gas-fired electricity.
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South Africa suffers 100th day of power blackouts this year

South Africa’s State-owned power utility has implemented power cuts on 100 days in 2022, with more to come. Eskom Holdings ramped up outages to so-called Stage 4 load-shedding, where it removes 4 000 MW from the grid, on Tuesday after three generation units at its Kendal coal-fired station about 100 km east of Johannesburg tripped. The utility expects to reduce this to 2 000 MWfrom Thursday until the end of the week. That will bring the total days of outages in the third quarter to 40, Bloomberg calculations show.
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Eskom says bulk supply restored to disaster-stricken Jagersfontein

State-owned power utility Eskom says bulk electricity supply to Jagersfontein, in the Free State, was restored at 04:25 on September 14. Eskom delivers electricity in bulk to Centlec, which then distributes it to Jagersfontein and Charlesville. A tailings dam burst on September 11, damaging homes and infrastructure in the area.
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Zimbabwe intensifies nationwide power cuts on supply shortage

Zimbabwe’s State-owned electricity distributor intensified power cuts across the country because of a shortage of supply. Outages will be intensified through September 16 because of “depressed generation on the grid,” the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Co. said in a statement on Wednesday.
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Ebitda, operating profit improvements illustrate Bushveld’s ‘strong’ interim results

Aim-quoted integrated vanadium producer and energy storage solutions provider Bushveld Minerals on September 13 reported significant improvements in revenue, earnings before interest, taxes depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) and operating profit for the six months ended June 30.   Bushveld FD Tanya Chikanza noted that revenue had increased by 62% year-on-year to $76.2-million for the period under review. This increase was one of the key factors in improving adjusted Ebitda, which swung from a loss of $15.6-million in the 2021 interim period –  an improvement of $26.4-million year-on-year.
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Creecy outlines rules exempting solar projects from environmental authorisation

Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy has initiated public consultations on the exclusion of solar photovoltaic (PV) installations from the need to secure an environmental authorisation when located in areas of medium or low environmental sensitivity. The Minister has given the public 30 days to comment on the proposed exclusion, which is provided for in Section 24(2)(e) of the National Environmental Management Act.
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South African business formations make joint appeal for carbon-tax relief

Several organised business formations have outlined six recommendations in a joint position statement on carbon tax, which they argue will improve the carbon tax proposals in the Taxation Laws Amendment Bill and “avert unintended consequences”. Released by the Energy Council of South Africa, Minerals Council South Africa, Business Leadership South Africa, Business Unity South Africa, the South African Petroleum Industry Association and the Energy Intensive Users Group, the joint statement stresses that organised business is supportive of carbon pricing, including the carbon tax, to help decarbonise the economy and facilitate a just transition.
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Cascading problems after Kendal coal conveyor belt broke led to Stage 4

Eskom had to jump to Stage 4 load-shedding on Tuesday morning after a coal conveyor belt broke at Kendal, leading to cascading problems and the failure of three units at the power station.  “In the early hours of this morning a conveyor belt feeding coal into Kendal Power Station failed. To conserve coal, the power output of the generators was reduced, but this required fuel oil to be used to sustain the boiler combustion,” Eskom said in a statement. 
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South Africa close to producing plan for Western climate aid despite hurdles

South African ministers will meet in the coming days to discuss an investment plan for billions of dollars pledged by rich nations for a transition to green energy, aiming to complete it before November’s COP27 climate summit, the environment minister said. At talks in Glasgow last year, the European Union, Britain, France and Germany promised $8.5 billion to help the country kick start a shift from carbon-intensive coal to cleaner energy.
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