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.
Several major nonprofit organisations have pledged their support for South Africa’s Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET-IP) for 2023 to 2027. South Africa has committed to reducing its greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions by 2030, subject to appropriate financial support and premised on enabling a just transition for affected communities and regions.
JSE-listed construction and engineering group Murray & Roberts (M&R) has announced that its trading division OptiPower has been awarded contracts by EDF Renewables.
The company was awarded the contracts together with Concor Construction, with which it has also concluded engineering, procurement and construction contracts for the Koruson main transmission substation and the 140 MW San Kraal and Phezukomoya wind farms, located on the boundary of the Eastern Cape and Northern Cape provinces.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has extended a €200-million loan to the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) to support the delivery of 1 200 MW of distributed renewables generation by private investors. The financing package, which is the largest-ever extended by the EIB to South Africa, was signed on Friday by EIB VP Ambroise Fayolle and DBSA CEO Patrick Dlamini on the side-lines of COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
As world leaders fete President Cyril Ramaphosa for his green agenda in Egypt, his minister of mineral resources and energy insisted this week that coal will continue to play a critical part in electricity generation in South Africa. Gwede Mantashe believes coal, along with gas, nuclear and hydropower should be the main baseload. Ramaphosa submitted South Africa’s R1.5 trillion investment plan to use less coal to a group of rich countries this week – to a rapturous response from the UK, US, Germany, France and the EU at the COP27 climate talks in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
Novel financing solutions were needed to help businesses and individual customers buy and install solar energy solutions, financial institution Nedbank Commercial Banking transformation and sustainability head Mark Boshoff said during a webinar on solar energy and its future in South Africa hosted by Nedbank and energy solutions company AW Power on November 10. He said alarming price escalations over the past few years in solar energy solutions for businesses and individual citizens of the country necessitated a creative strategic approach to creating funding solutions for customers.
With South Africa diversifying its energy mix, as it looks to mitigate loadshedding and to meet 2030 and 2050 carbon emissions reduction targets, alternative industry players like green hydrogen and biogas, offer potential; however, there are also challenges to contend with in pursuing these energy sources. This was indicated by speakers at industry body the South African National Energy Association’s (Sanea)’s 2022 Conference on November 11.
Two truck drivers contracted to Eskom were arrested at Kendal Power Station after they were found in possession of stolen coal. The drivers were arrested on Wednesday night and a criminal case of theft of coal was registered with the Ogies police station, Eskom said in a statement.
State-owned power utility Eskom says two truck drivers contracted by it were arrested at the Kendal power station, in Mpumalanga, on November 10, after they were found to be in possession of stolen coal.
A criminal case of coal theft has been registered with the Ogies police station.
Industrial valves and pumps specialist Brimis Engineering was awarded a major service contract for the maintenance, refurbishment and testing of boiler safety valves for a power generating plant near Middleburg, in Mpumalanga, last month. The company says the maintenance contract is due to run until late 2025 or until the end of the station’s plant’s life, whichever comes first.
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