Steenbras plant protected Capetonians from worse loadshedding

The City of Cape Town says its electricity customers have been protected from more than 1 100 hours of the 1 900 hours of loadshedding implemented by State-owned Eskom between February and September this year. “Where possible, the city has been able to protect its customers from up to two stages of loadshedding primarily through the management of the Steenbras Hydro Pumped Storage Scheme,” says City of Cape Town energy MMC Beverley van Reenen.
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DMRE DDG updates wind power conference on Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill

The Department of Minerals Resources and Energy (DMRE) has made “significant progress” in the process of promulgating the Electricity Regulation Amendment (ERA) Bill, DMRE deputy director-general for mining, minerals and energy policy Ntokozo Ngcwabe has told the Windaba 2022 conference in Cape Town. Approval by the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, and submission to the full Cabinet, should both happen next month. Subsequently, it would be tabled in Parliament. She explained that, at that point, Parliament’s own processes, procedures and timescales took over and the DMRE no longer had any control over the progress of the Bill. The department would follow and monitor the parliamentary process, to be ready to respond to any queries or comments that might be generated by the parliamentary process.
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Jobs first, or energy-first, asks Windaba panel

Manufacturing is responsible for only one-third of jobs within the wind energy sector, says Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy Africa area director Marcel Cabral. Speaking at Windaba 2022 in Cape Town on Thursday on a panel around localisation in the wind sector, Cabral noted that the other two-thirds revolved around the development, construction, running and maintenance of wind farms, and “that South Africa had all the resources for that”.
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Nersa sets new dates for Ministerial determination concurrence hearings

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has announced new dates for public hearings regarding its concurrence with three Ministerial determinations opening the way for the procurement of 18 771 MW of new electricity capacity, having initially cancelled hearings scheduled for this week, owing to a lack of response. In a notice issued on October 13, Nersa announced that the time for public comment regarding its concurrence with the determinations had been extended and invited stakeholders to attend rescheduled virtual hearings on October 20 and 21, between 13:00 and 17:00 on both days.
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