First two BW5 wind projects reach financial close

Two wind projects under Bid Window Five (BW5) of South Africa’s Renewable Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) have reached financial close – the first REIPPPP projects to advance to financial close since 2018 and also the first BW5 projects to reach the milestone. Located on the border of the Eastern and Northern Cape provinces, the projects are the Phezukomoya and San Kraal wind energy facilities with capacities of 140 MW apiece and which will be built by EDF Renewables and its partners, H1 and Gibb-Crede.
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Stage 3 loadshedding to be implemented on Monday and Tuesday

Eskom has announced that Stage 3 loadshedding will be implemented on Monday from 16:00 until 05:00 on Tuesday morning. It will then drop to Stage 2 until 16:00 on Tuesday, when Stage 3 will again be implemented until 05:00 on Wednesday. Stage 2 will then again be implemented until further notice. 
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CSIR statistics underline how significantly loadshedding has intensified during 2022

Statistics released by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) underlined how significantly loadshedding has intensified during 2022, which is the first year that the majority of the rotational cuts have been implemented at Stage 4, representing 4 000 MW of simultaneous cuts. It is also the first year since 2019 that Stage 6 loadshedding was implemented, and for far longer periods (nearly ten times longer) than was the case three years ago.
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Cape Town mayor outlines city’s plans to achieve energy autonomy from Eskom

Cape Town Metropolitan Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis on Monday highlighted the city’s programme to generate power locally and free the Metro from loadshedding (rolling power cuts) imposed by the national electricity utility Eskom. He was addressing the Energy Indaba conference being held in the city. “Loadshedding and rolling blackouts are the number one handbrake on the South African economy right now,” he pointed out. A manufacturing industry could not be developed under loadshedding conditions. Services could get by, for example, by installing solar power systems. But that was not an option for heavy industry. And economic growth was essential to eliminate the serious problem of poverty.
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Top Africa renewable firm sees South Africa power woes persisting

Africa’s biggest renewable power company said it will take years for South Africa’s electricity supply woes to ease after the government’s bias toward coal led to the collapse of wind and solar energy manufacturers. That legacy is being exacerbated by global supply chain issues that are slowing the construction of renewable plants, Chris Antonopoulos, CEO of Amsterdam-based Lekela Power, said in an interview.
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