South Africa faces decade of blackouts without gas, Wartsila says

Wartsila Oyj, a Finnish company that makes power plants, expects South Africa to face electricity outages for at least another decade unless it installs as much as $8 billion worth of gas-fired generation capacity. The outages stem from state power utility Eskom Holdings’ failure to adequately invest in new capacity and the maintenance of 14 operating coal-fired power plants. The energy shortages have been exacerbated by the slow ramp up of its two newest plants.
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Embedded generation project pipeline stands at 9 GW – Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa reports that the pipeline of confirmed private embedded generation projects has increased to 100 with a total combined capacity of around 9 000 MW. The President confirmed the figure in a series of written responses to Parliamentary questions posed by Democratic Alliance permanent delegate to the National Council of Provinces from the North West, Carin Visser.
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Bushveld Energy enters reverse takeover deal through the sale of VRFB-H

Aim-listed Bushveld Minerals’ 84%-owned subsidiary Bushveld Energy has entered into a conditional agreement to sell its entire 50.5% interest in Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries Holdings (VRFB-H) to special purpose acquisition company Mustang Energy.

VRFB-H’s main asset is a 50% interest in Enerox Holdings, which, in turn, holds the entire issued share capital of Enerox, an Austria-based vanadium redox flow battery manufacturer.

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Nersa calls for comments on gas, renewable energy and hydrogen partnership strategy

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has invited stakeholders to provide written comments on the issues raised in the consultation document concerning the development of the strategy for a gas, renewable energy and hydrogen partnership in South Africa. The consultation document is intended to assist Nersa in soliciting stakeholder views and perspectives on the prospects of achieving a coordinated development of gas alongside renewable energy and hydrogen in the country’s energy markets.
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Zimbabwe power shortage to worsen as hydro plant halts generation

Zimbabwe’s prolonged power shortage is set to worsen after the entity that manages southern Africa’s biggest dam ordered suspension of electricity generation at its main hydro plant because of a water shortage. In a letter dated November 25 and seen by Reuters, the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) told the Zimbabwe Power Company that the Kariba South hydropower station had used more than its 2022 water allocation and that the Kariba Dam’s usable storage was only 4.6% full.
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